A man has spoken of his “complete terror” after finding the door to his 11th-floor Lochee flat ablaze in an apparent fireraising incident.
Christian Compan, 51, had fallen asleep while watching television was woken by the sound of his smoke alarm around 4am on Sunday.
He said: “Then I opened the door and was just hit by a wall of thick, black smoke.
“I started to choke. The curtains on the front door were in flames, the front door was just black. I was completely terrified.”
Chris immediately phoned the fire service but, fearing he might be trapped if he waited for firefighters to arrive, he kicked the front door open and made his escape.
“My face, my teeth, even my tongue, were completely black,” Mr Compan said.
“By the time the fire brigade got here, the fire had already gone out but I had to be taken to Ninewells as I could hardly breathe.”
Firefighters said a kitchen roll tube had been stuffed with sponges and a container had been filled with lighter fluid.
French-born Mr Compan, who has lived in Dundee for 27 years, was trying his best to pick up the pieces and began to paint over his damaged door.
He has been left wondering why his flat was targeted and if it will happen again.
“I didn’t even want to come home at all but I had nowhere else to go,” he said.
“I can’t sleep. Five years of living here, nothing like this has ever happened and now? I don’t feel safe in my own home.”
A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesman confirmed they had been called to fire in Lansdowne Court.
“The fire was out prior to arrival but crews in breathing apparatus used a positive pressure ventilation fan,” he said.
“A man suffering from smoke inhalation was removed from the flat by crews and placed in the care of paramedics, before being taken to Ninewells Hospital.
“A joint investigation between SFRS and Police Scotland into the cause of the incident is ongoing.”
Macalpine fire station manager Keith Dyer added: “This is being treated as very suspicious, and we’re certainly investigating with our colleagues from Police Scotland to find out exactly what has happened and who has done this.”