Daniel Lindus spent an hour banging on the woman’s door and shouting before he set a box alight and watched it burn.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the 39-year-old had a history of starting fires but this was his first similar offence for a decade.
Peter Sabiston, prosecuting, said: “The victim was at home at around 9pm and she heard some shouting and banging – he was shouting ‘it’s me Tintin’ – and this went on for about an hour.
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“She then noticed the fire after seeing its reflection in her bedroom window.”
Mr Sabiston said a neighbour had seen the defendant with the box in the garden before he set it alight.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said she had been scared that her house would go up in flames.
The judge watched some brief body-worn camera footage from one of the police officers who attended the scene and used fire extinguishers to douse the flame.
The court heard how Lindus has 23 previous convictions including one from 2014 when he was sentenced for causing criminal damage by fire after setting three bins alight in Darlington town centre.
Lindus, now of Lismore Drive, Darlington, pleaded guilty to arson causing criminal damage by fire when he appeared at an earlier hearing.
Michele Turner, mitigating, said her client was a functioning alcoholic and accepted he has similar previous convictions for fire starting.
She added: “He is a man who in recent times has had a decrease in offending. He is now someone who is prepared to work with the probation service.
“He is a functioning alcoholic but there has been some progress, he has already attended some voluntary sessions. He has reduced his consumption but it is still a problem for him.”
The Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Paul Watson KC, sentenced Lindus to eight months in prison suspended for 18 months.
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He said: “You got yourself absolutely blind drunk and there seems to have been some disagreement with the lady, you went round to her house and you set fire to an area of her garden.
“You set fire to a cardboard box and it spread to a grassed area. Fortunately for everyone concerned the police arrived quickly and were able to put it out with fire extinguishers from their police vehicles.”
Lindus was made subject to a two-year restraining order to keep him away from the woman, ordered to attend 40 rehabilitation activity requirement days and take part in a 12-month alcohol treatment programme.