San Francisco Fire Department firefighters and paramedics surround the victim of Friday's fire. Photo: Tom Prete / Ocean Beach Bulletin

An elderly woman was taken to the hospital in critical condition after a house fire on the 2400 block of 41st Avenue Friday afternoon.

Division 3 Chief Matthew J. McNaughton of the San Francisco Fire Department said the fire was on the top floor of the two-story building between Taraval and Ulloa streets, and he said rescue was difficult because of cramped conditions in the house.

McNaughton said a 77-year-old woman was taken from the house and transported in critical condition to St. Francis Memorial Hospital.

“She’s in pretty difficult condition right now,” he said at about 3:45 p.m.

The fire broke out shortly before 3 p.m., as children from St. Gabriel School were getting out of class less than a block away. School staff members shooed away students who gathered on the sidewalk to watch firefighters, and traffic backed up as parents trying to pick up their children were forced to wait or detour around the intersection of 41st Avenue and Ulloa Street.

Firefighters could be heard cutting through the roof of the house where fire broke out Friday. Photo: Tom Prete / Ocean Beach Bulletin

One neighbor who drove up as firefighters were still working on the fire said she has lived across the street from the victim for about seven years. Nicole, who declined to give her last name, said she didn’t know her neighbor well but would sometimes see her driving her car in or out of the house’s garage.

“Poor thing, she was an elderly woman who lived by herself,” Nicole said.

Three SFFD fire investigators responded to the scene of the fire, but McNaughton said he couldn’t give any information about the cause of the fire and couldn’t say whether the woman’s injuries were all due to the fire and smoke.

At least 12 Fire Department vehicles responded to the fire, including elements of Battalion 8 and Battalion 9.