Susan Conroy was woken on Thursday night by things banging on the roof of her flat, then a popping sound.
She looked out her bedroom window and saw haze in the direction of the end unit of her Campbell St, Wanganui, block of flats. Then she smelled smoke.
She woke her grandsons, 17 and 18, and told them there was a fire and she needed their help. She asked one to grab her phone and ring 111, and the other to knock on doors and wake everyone else in the complex.
Security guards were the first to turn up at the scene, then curious people followed by the fire service and police.
"By this time, the unit was well ablaze. I couldn't see flames, but I could see a glow and hazy smoke," she said.