BOSTON — Brockton firefighters rescued five people hanging from windows at a heavy blaze early Sunday morning, according to fire officials.

Seven residents in total were transported to the hospital, and one teenager was in critical condition following the fire at 25 Central Square in Brockton, about 25 miles south of Boston. No firefighters were injured.

Upon arrival to the three-alarm house fire shortly before 1 a.m., firefighters found several people hanging from windows on the third floor.

Using ground ladders, the firefighters were able to rescue five people.

“You couldn’t understand how satisfied I am with the men standing behind me right now,” Brockton Fire Chief Brian Nardelli told reporters, pointing to the firefighters. “We work on this all the time. We drill all the time.

“We train all the time … taking a person out through the home down the set of stairs is actually probably our primary, getting them out by an aerial ladder is our secondary,” he added. “The last thing we want to do, because it is the most difficult, is getting them out by ground ladders.”

The chief credited the firefighters for their “training and dedication.”