NEARLY 20 people, including children, have been rescued from the roof of an inner city Sydney apartment block after a blaze broke out in the building's basement.
Passersby gathered to watch on Saturday morning as rescue crews plucked 15 adults and four children from the Pyrmont rooftop with a truck-mounted crane.
Firefighters arrived at the building about 10am (AEDT) to find heat and thick smoke billowing from a basement carpark as a car inside burned.
Superintendent Rick Parkes told reporters that fire stairways in the building led down to the basement, 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.
Elaine Kelly, along with her two young sons, was among the stranded residents.
"We just gathered the kids together and wanted to get out of the building as quickly as possible, but we opened the front door and you could see there was no way of getting down in the lift or fire exits," she said.
"They've been very brave ... I think they're hoping for a little trip in the fire engine now."
About 60 people were evacuated while others had to be corralled to a safer unit in the building.
Those 15 people waited in place as firefighters stood guard outside with hoses charged in case the fire made its way up through the building.
No one was injured, but one woman was taken to hospital suffering shortness of breath.
The fire was extinguished by midday but residents remained waiting outside in the rain and cold to learn when they would be allowed back into their homes.
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 determining whether the basement should be declared a crime scene.
Engineers were yet to examine the extent of the damage but had confirmed the flames had spread to a jet ski and photographic equipment stored near the burning car.
