Wealthy accountant Jeffrey Howard, 54, set fire to his home in Albert Road after splitting up with his wife, a judge at Lincoln Crown Court was told. He was jailed for four years.
Retired Mary Phillips, 80, who lives in Albert Road, said Howard's actions were dangerous not only to him but to others and she was pleased he was being punished.
Mrs Phillips said: "It was such a silly thing to do. I can't understand how anybody could carry out a thoughtless act like this.
"Most people with marriage problems try and sort them out in a sensible way. When you are in trouble, you don't see how you are going to get through it –but there is always light at the end of the tunnel. He deserved to get some punishment."
Howard locked himself inside the three-storey end-of-terrace house on Tuesday, March 16, and doused the property with 10 gallons of petrol. He then lit a match and expected to be engulfed by flames. But the amount of petrol he had used caused an immediate explosion which blew out the patio doors.
The court was told Howard panicked and fled in his car. Firefighters were called but could not enter the building because of the severity of the blaze.
Retired Basil and Margaret Lovery, of Albert Road, were at home at the time of the fire earlier this year and they were pleased to hear Howard had been imprisoned.
Mrs Lovery said he caused a lot of inconvenience to people living in the area and said: "We had 10 weeks of not being able to park our vehicles outside our houses. Our feelings are not very charitable."
Mr Lovery added: "He was totally without any conscience. Everybody has a row with their wife, but you don't then go and burn the house down."
On the day of the attack, police called to the scene quickly established that Howard's wife and two children were no longer living at the house and that the adjacent property was unoccupied.
Howard was arrested after returning to the house that evening. He told officers: "I'm going to admit everything anyway."
His eyelashes and arm hairs were singed.
The damage was so severe that the property was demolished at a cost of more than £30,000.
Mrs Phillips said the terraced houses now look a mess and added: "They were lovely houses, but now it is an eyesore."
In court, Chris Milligan, mitigating, said the main catalyst for the fire was a county court hearing with Howard's wife which was due to be heard the next day.
"His sole intention was to kill himself," Mr Milligan added.
Mr Milligan told the court there was no suggestion of a financial motive for starting the fire as Howard had £220,000 in a frozen bank account.
Howard admitted reckless arson on March 16 this year.
Passing sentence Judge Peter Clarke told Howard he had "just snapped".
Judge Clarke added: "It is a very sad case. You are a successful certified accountant."