A two-storey house at Mirrabooka was completely gutted by fire after a woman filmed herself deliberately lighting a small blaze and then did nothing to stop it from spreading.
Jessy Taylor, now 33, ignored numerous requests to evacuate the home in Mooranga Road late on the night of August 17 last year as the fire spread and flames leapt through the skylights and out the windows.
NSW Fire and Rescue and NSW Rural Fire Service crews from across the western side of Lake Macquarie were called in to attack the blaze and stop it spreading to neighbouring properties.
The interior of the house, valued at about $700,000, was completely destroyed by the fire. The second storey and internal staircase were gutted by flames while the ground floor sustained significant smoke damage.
Taylor was repeatedly told to leave the house, but ignored those pleas to the point people considered trying to enter the house to rescue her but were advised against it.
Eventually, she walked out the front door.
She was spoken to by a detective, who noted her speech was slurred and she appeared intoxicated.
When family members arrived to find the house well alight, they ran in to rescue Taylor not realising she was no longer inside.
They made it into the burning house before being removed by emergency services.
Taylor, who was granted bail the day after her arrest, appeared in Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday where she pleaded guilty to damaging property by fire.
"It is agreed that the offender deliberately lit a fire within the house, but that she did not intend to burn the house down," a statement of agreed facts sets out.
"However, it is also agreed that she made no attempts to contain or put out the fire, did not attempt to call emergency services and ignored numerous requests to leave the house once it was alight."
When spoken to by police at the scene, Taylor said she was cooking when "it just went up".
Videos on her phone showed Taylor damaging property inside the home, including a cabinet that she then set on fire using pieces of paper.
The fire started out small, but quickly spread and neighbours began calling Taylor's family to let them know the house was ablaze.
Taylor remains on bail and will next appear in Newcastle District Court next month to get a sentence date.
