A woman found covered in soot after lighting a barbecue inside a caravan and destroying the vehicle and damaging nearby property has been placed on supervision.
Katrina Stewart, 52, fired up a disposable barbecue in the caravan but fell asleep as the blaze took hold.
A huge emergency response in the Kirkton street sealed off as firefighters battled the inferno.
The van was parked adjacent to the owner’s home and guttering on neighbouring properties melted in the heat, while nearby gas supplies had to be switched off.
Stewart, from Dundee, previously admitted culpably and recklessly setting the fire to a in the city’s Dunmore Street on January 28 2021.
Dundee Sheriff Court was told Stewart woke up and managed to escape from the caravan and was found covered in black soot nearby when police arrived.
Sheriff Paul Brown placed her under supervision for two years and ordered her to carry out 166 hours unpaid work in the community as an alternative to custody..
Slept through fire’s start
Fiscal depute Trina Sinclair told the court the caravan owner was a man in his 70s who Stewart would routinely visit, staying three or four times a week.
The man did not trust Stewart to be alone in the property but allowed her use of the caravan if he was out.
She arrived at 8am on the day of her disaster and when the pensioner went to the supermarket later that morning, he allowed her into the caravan.
He returned after an hour and a short time later it was noticed thick black smoke was belching from the caravan.
An SGN (Scottish Gas Networks) employee was in a work van nearby street and drove to investigate as the smoke billowed over nearby rooftops.
Police on routine patrol were also drawn to the plumes of smoke.
The caravan owner, who had fallen asleep in his home, was woken and taken to safety.
Hoarded gas canisters
Firefighters and an ambulance crew attended and the gas service in the area was shut off.
The fire was considered high risk due to hoarded items and gas canisters could be heard whistling.
Extensive damage was sustained to the guttering of nearby houses and the caravan was completely destroyed, with the total bill for damage running into thousands of pounds.
The prosecutor told the court Stewart was taken to a place of safety and had “extensive blackening to her face and hands.”
She told police: “I was in the caravan. I was using a barbecue.”
Stewart appeared via video link after being remanded to custody in the wake of several previous failures to appear in connection with the case.
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