Photo: Pool
"We're going to be okay?" a former Loafers Lodge resident asked a 111 call taker from the roof of the building where flames were beginning to appear during the fatal blaze.
The fire would go on to tear through the Wellington hostel and leave five people dead.
Glen Cross was giving evidence at the High Court in Wellington at the trial of a man who had denied murdering those five people by setting Loafers Lodge alight on May 16, 2023.
The 50-year-old has name suppression, and his lawyers intend to use the defence of insanity.
The Crown said the man deliberately lit the fire, knowing it was "morally wrong" and that people could die as a result.
The man on trial has name suppression. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Cross said alarms went off frequently in the building, often due to people smoking, but this time felt different.
When he heard someone yelling 'fire' he could tell by the tone of their voice something was seriously wrong.
"I went from being half asleep to wide awake," he said.
He grabbed his phone and wallet from his level four bedroom and attempted to leave downstairs, but the thick smoke was too much.
"As soon as I saw that wall of smoke I just held my breath and dropped to the ground."
He managed to climb up the stairs onto the roof, where he found his neighbour.
"We were both concerned at our predicament, we looked over the side and seen people down below, there were already flashing lights," he said.
They held their t-shirts over their mouths to keep the smoke out, and "tried to stay calm".
The court heard Cross' 111 call from the roof, where he and his friend had begun to see flames starting to lick through.
They were frightened, could not see any way down, and didn't know if people knew they were up there.
He did not know what that time it was: "there's no sense of time for me... I don't know how to describe it... it didn't feel real."
Cross told the call taker what was happening, and the man replied that crews were there and working to get people out of the building.
"We're going to be okay?" Cross asked.
He and the others on the roof were okay - rescued by firefighters.
From the ground, Cross surveyed what he had escaped.
"Flames, you could hear the cracking, wood, glass, flames coming out... lots of smoke," he said.
"I was relieved to be on the ground, but sort of numb, I suppose. It was surreal, didn't feel like it was really happening."
On Tuesday the court heard testimony from another resident, Timothy Nevin, whose statement was read by Crown lawyer Grant Burston.
Nevin described his panic, fear and suffocation as he tried to escape the deadly blaze.
The residents are among around 100 Crown witnesses being called over the five-week trial.
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