A Dundee woman has spoken of the terrifying moment an escape route in a city flat was blocked by a burning wheelie bin.
The bin was on fire in the communal close at the flats in Arklay Street around 11pm on Sunday night.
Ellie Millar, who lives on the first floor, said the incident was terrifying.
The 33-year-old added: “It is so lucky that everyone escaped uninjured but it could have been so very much worse.
“I don’t know how the bin caught fire but I think someone had pushed it in front of the stairs.
“This meant it was blocking the escape route from the flats.
“If we had to get out the front door of the building we wouldn’t have had much of a chance because the bin was well alight and blocking the path of anyone who was coming down the stairs.
“It was seriously terrifying.The stairwell was full of thick black smoke and there must have been aerosols in the bin because they kept exploding.”
Ellie said that one of her neighbours first became aware of the fire just before 11pm.
She added: “He is Polish and because his English isn’t very good he got one of the other residents to call the fire brigade.
“Meanwhile, all the neighbours gathered on the stairs and reassured each other throughout the ordeal.
“Thank goodness that the fire brigade were on the scene pretty quickly.
“They soon had the fire under control.
“We all decided to stay together on the stairs further up until the firemen said it was safe again.
“I was really worried about my neighbour on the ground floor because the fire was closest to her flat.
“However, I discovered later that she had been away for the night, otherwise she might have been more badly affected than the rest of us.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service confirmed they attended a wheelie bin fire in a block of flats at Arklay Street.
The spokesman added: “The fire was quickly brought under control and everyone on the building was safe.”