Photo: The Canadian Press

A fire official says a mother and three children — ages 11, 7 and 3 — have died in fast-moving New York City house fire.

New York Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro (NY'-groh) says the woman and children were killed around 2:30 a.m. Monday at a home in Brooklyn's Sheepshead Bay neighbourhood.

The commissioner says the children's father and two teenagers are in critical condition.

He says firefighters arrived about 2 minutes after getting the call from a neighbour and the fire was already "consuming" all three floors of the building.

Nigro says the fire was accidental but the cause has not yet been pinpointed.