FOR six-year-old Arran, it was a pretty good start to the weekend: he had a ride in a cherrypicker, got to meet a fireman and was treated to a bag of chips for being brave.
For mum Elaine Kelly and dozens of neighbours, Saturday began with a frightening scramble to safety as a fire burned below and thick, toxic smoke billowed into corridors.
Ms Kelly and her two young sons were among the 15 adults and four children rescued from the roof of their inner Sydney apartment block after a blaze broke out in the Pyrmont property's basement shortly before 10am (AEDT).
About 60 other residents were evacuated and 15 forced to shelter in an upper-level unit, as firefighters stood with hoses drawn to protect them from any encroaching flames.
"Not your average Saturday morning," Ms Kelly told reporters, as she described how firefighters plucked Arran and four-year-old Caleb from the roof using an airlift.
"They've been very brave indeed.
"A little bit anxious at first when they realised it was a fire, but then the fireman came and it was just, 'this is really cool!'"
Superintendent Rick Parkes told reporters that fire stairways in the building led down to the basement where a car had caught fire, so for the 19 people who became stranded, the only way out was up.
"They felt that their best option was to make their way to the roof and wait for assistance there," he said.
One first-floor resident, Cheri Kelcher, told AAP she and her friends nearly became trapped by the thick smoke.
"Where all the smoke was coming out is where the fire exit ends, so we couldn't get back in to cut across to get out, so we were standing there with all this smoke in our face going uh-oh, what do we do?" she said.
She said she held her breath and "did a runner" when the smoke thinned briefly.
No one was injured, but one woman was taken to hospital suffering shortness of breath.
The fire was extinguished by midday but residents were unlikely to be allowed back into their homes until evening.
Supt Parkes said the thick smoke generated in the fire could be toxic.
"(A burning car) generates smoke such as hydrogen phosphine, which they use in chemical warfare, and it also generates carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide," Supt Parkes said.
Police investigators were still determining whether the site should be declared a crime scene on Saturday afternoon.
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