A woman and her two infant sons died early today when a fire apparently caused by careless smoking raced through their first-floor apartment in northwest Baltimore, fire officials said.

At least three other residents of the three-story brick apartment building in the 2300 block of Ocala Ave. near Druid Hill Park suffered smoke inhalation and other injuries and were taken to separate hospitals for treatment.

They included a woman who jumped with a child from a second-floor rear bedroom window.

Killed were Ramona Collins, 34, and two sons, Malcolm King Jr., 18 months, and Martineze King, 6 months. Another son, Quincy Collins, 11, was critically injured, fire officials said.

According to Deputy Chief Robert Belluomo, the fire began in the first-floor front apartment occupied by Collins and filled the dwelling with thick smoke and flames.

Belluomo said the first firefighters on the scene found the woman's body lying in the living room. In a rear bedroom were her two children.

Officer Joseph Dugan, of the Northwestern District, said Bernadette Sutters, 34, and her son, Ouana Harris, 8, who lived in apartment 2B directly overhead, jumped from their rear bedroom window into an alley behind the building.

The woman and child were taken to separate hospitals, where the woman was treated for a back injury and the child a broken leg.

Belloumo said the Collins woman's apartment had no electricity. He said the cause of the blaze is under investigation.