A Montreal mother of seven saved the lives of her children by throwing them out the window of a burning building on Thursday night.

A Montreal mother threw her seven children out of this second-storey window to save them from a fire.
(Radio-Canada)

The 34-year-old woman and her children, who are all between the ages of two and 10, were inside their east-end apartment on Élie-Beauregard Street when a fire broke out on the building's ground floor just before midnight.

As flames and smoke spread in the building, the mother gathered her children at a second-storey window.

By the time firefighters arrived, responding to a neighbour's 911 call, she had thrown six of her children into a snowbank about five metres below, and then jumped with her youngest child in her arms.

"By doing what she did, she saved her family," said paramedic Bart Paranello. "She saved her kids. She's a hero."

The woman injured her back in the fall, and suffered first-degree burns to her face. She is still in hospital, as is her three-year-old daughter, who was listed in critical, but stable condition.

A child clutches a white stuffed bear on the way to hospital, after surviving a two-storey fall.
(Radio-Canada)

The rest of the children were treated in hospital and are now staying with family.

Neighbour Roberto Ramirez remembers rushing outside when he heard the children crying.

"Then I saw a kid being thrown from the window. [I thought] 'My god, what is this?'"

Another neighbour yelled at her family to get blankets for the children who landed in the snow, as they were wearing hardly any clothing.

Neighbours commended the woman's instinct and courage.

"She's an extraordinary woman" said Jehu Gauthier, who lives around the corner. "I congratulate her."

There were questions last night about whether there was a smoke detector in the home, and whether it was working. Rémi Gagnon of the Montreal fire department urged people to take a moment to check their own detectors and ensure they are in good working order.

Initial reports suggested the fire started in a couch.

With files from the Canadian Press