Fire broke out early this morning at a three-storey block of flats.
The incident – suspected to be arson - happened in School Street, Syston.
Resident Andrew Tebbutt, who lives in a ground floor flat with wife Teresa, became aware of the blaze at about 2.15am and called the fire service.
He said: "I was panicked and frightened more than anything else. My wife is registered disabled and at first I didn't know how we were going to get out."
The couple managed to escape through a window and then alerted other residents by banging and shouting.
A top floor resident, who asked not to be named, said: "I woke up to find the hallway full of smoke. The front door is a fire door so I stayed in the flat."
Firefighters evacuated a number of people from the flats using ladders.
A fire service spokeswoman said the fire, in a ground floor storage cupboard, was believed to have been started deliberately.
