A pensioner was rescued from his blazing flat by two hero neighbours after a fire he recklessly caused broke out.
Alexander Jamieson, 66, was pulled to safety through his living room window as explosions went off inside it.
One of his rescuers suffered minor burns during the incident at a block of eight flats in Edinburgh’s Wester Hailes area.
Jamieson appeared via prison video link at the city’s sheriff court on Thursday and pled guilty to culpably and recklessly lighting candles and discarding a cigarette.
He admitted his actions on August 23 allowed a fire to take hold in his living room which endangered his life and others.
Fiscal depute Heather Carmichael said the blaze erupted at around 1am with witnesses spotting smoke and flames coming from Jamieson’s home.
Ms Carmichael said the two rescuers saw Jamieson struggling to open his living room window and went to his aid.
She said: “As they were pulling the accused through the window, there was an explosion from within the living room.
“That explosion caused them to lose their grip on the accused and resulted in him falling through the window onto the ground, sustaining a laceration to his head.”
The court heard the rescuers were dragging Jamieson away from the scene when a second explosion went off, shattering the living room window.
Ms Carmichael said firefighters in breathing apparatus spent 34 minutes extinguishing the flames and other residents in the block were evacuated.
She added Jamieson’s council flat was the only property damaged.
While being treated in hospital, the court was told Jamieson said he’d left candles burning due to a lack of electricity and told cops he “accidentally threw a lit cigarette into a waste paper bin”.
Fire investigators found the “remains of aerosol cans which may have accounted for the explosions”, Ms Carmichael added.
Defence agent Rebecca Weissgerber said Jamieson was a “vulnerable individual” who suffered from a “chronic alcohol difficulty”.
She added her client’s health was “extremely fragile”.
During the hearing, Jamieson also admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner towards ambulance personnel at his address, in an ambulance, and at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary on February 25 by shouting, swearing, uttering threats of violence, and pushing a paramedic.
Sheriff Chris Dickson deferred sentence on Jamieson until next month for reports and ordered he stay remanded in custody.
