Jacinda Papworth (18) said she was having a dream the Kinsman St flat was on fire, when something made her get out of bed.
"I just had a gut feeling I had to go check it out."
When she opened the bedroom door, the smoke in the hallway was so thick she could not see half a metre in front.
"I called out to Cam [Horne, aged 19] to 'Get up, there's a fire'. The smoke alarm started going off then and I ran out on to the street. I couldn't think what else to do."
Outside she encountered a policeman on the phone.
He had been driving in the area when he noticed the smoke, and had already called the Fire Service.
Meanwhile, Mr Horne woke up flatmate Jason Craig (18) and together they found the source of the thick smoke, on the deck.
Within seconds, flames had spread up the external kitchen wall and were bursting from cupboard drawers inside.
Mr Craig ran to his car, got his fire extinguisher and doused the flames, just as a fire engine arrived.
"It was lucky he [the policeman] called them, because I reckon it would have only been seconds more before the whole thing went up."
The fire started from a log that the flatmates left on the deck after they removed it from the woodburner, because it was too big, about 8pm.
"We thought it was out. There was a wee bit of smoke coming out of it but nothing really," Mr Horne said.
They put the log outside about 8pm and noticed nothing wrong when they went to bed at 10.30pm.
Fire safety officer Barry Gibson recommended never removing anything from an operating fireplace unless there was a compelling reason, but if a piece of wood did have to be removed, it should be put in a metal container, taken straight outside and submerged in water.
