People could have been killed
Kevin Shaun Temperton, 29, of Limedane, Orchard Park, set fire to the letterbox of Brian Foster, who lives on the 17th floor flat in nearby Milldane, on January 9 at 6.15pm.
Temperton believed Mr Foster was seeing his ex-partner.
The fire took hold and the hallway filled with smoke.
Luckily, a neighbour called the fire brigade after his own flat also filled with thick black smoke.
He then bravely tackled the fire until the emergency services arrived.
Just 15 minutes after Temperton lit the fire, he went round to his ex-partner's home to gloat.
Detective Constable Peter Finch said: "There were approximately 200 people in the building at the time and it was on the 17th floor. Without the swift actions of the people who rang in the fire and the attempts the neighbours made to put it out there was the real potential for loss of life.
"It was a vindictive, spiteful act and totally unwarranted. He did it in a fit of jealousy. His intention was to cause harm to his ex-partner and a man he wrongly believed she was in a relationship with.
"It had the potential for massive loss of life because the first floor flats are 25ft off the ground and the top flats are approximately 200ft high."
Just four days after the attack, he burst into his ex-partner's home and assaulted her and her daughter.
Judge Simon Jack, sitting at Hull Crown Court, sentenced Temperton to two years and four months imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to two common assaults and arson being reckless.
His barrister John Thackray told the court Temperton was remorseful and he had told him he was concerned about his actions after hearing of the deaths caused by the fire in a high rise flats in London where six people lost their lives.
A jealous man, who set fire to the door of a 17th floor flat in a Hull tower block, has been sentenced to almost two and a half years in prison.
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