Four people had to be rescued by firefighters from their Dundee tenement block after a pram was set on fire in the communal close.
Two men and a woman were taken from their flats by ladders, while another woman was led down the stairwell by firefighters in the early-hours drama on Saturday.
It is thought the fire, in a block at 79 King Street, was started deliberately by vandals, and the police and fire services are treating the blaze as “suspicious”.
One of the men who was rescued, 21-year-old Dundee University software development student Sam Rowland, said he and his girlfriend Jenna Anderson, 19, were raised from their beds around 3am by smoke alarms sounding.
Sam said: “We had to climb down ladders to get out of the window. I heard the neighbour’s alarm but didn’t think much of it.
“Then our alarm started going off and I went out into the hall and it was full of smoke.
“I opened the door to the close but there was too much smoke so we couldn’t get out that way.
“We went through to the living room and opened the window and dialled 999.
“The people in the fire control told us to stay there and wait for the fire engines.
“It was a bit frightening at the time, there was quite a lot of adrenalin and I didn’t really know how to act, but Jenna was really calm.”
Station manager Fraser Scott said firefighters from Kingsway and Macalpine Road fire stations had removed three people by ladders and another woman was brought down the internal stairway.
“When we arrived there were persons reported in the flats and they were quite distressed with the amount of smoke.
“We used two hosereels to extinguish the fire on the ground floor. The people were all OK and didn’t require medical treatment.
“A pram and some children’s toys which were in the communal close had been set alight, and I would reiterate the message not to leave rubbish lying about in communal closes.
“The amount of smoke and gases that are given off leads to heavy smoke logging in these buildings and although it can seem very minor it’s not.
“Thankfully, in this case everyone was safe and well, but the implications could have been much more serious and four people could have been suffering from smoke inhalation.”
Mr Scott said the fire crews were at the building until around 5am.
A police spokesman confirmed the fire was being treated as “suspicious” and said inquiries were continuing to find the cause of the blaze.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact the police on 101, or speak to any officer.