An Adelaide cafe owner who was rescued from a fire at his business has gone on trial accused of burning it down to collect insurance money.

Key points: A blaze was fought by firefighters at Adelaide cafe The Curious Vine last year

A blaze was fought by firefighters at Adelaide cafe The Curious Vine last year Owner Carl Gibbons was later charged with arson

Owner Carl Gibbons was later charged with arson A court heard he said he was doing paperwork when he noticed the fire

Carl Gibbons, 64, was arrested and charged with arson after his Semaphore cafe, The Curious Vine, was badly damaged by fire in March 2017.

Prosecutor Jeff Powell told the District Court the cafe had only opened about six weeks before the blaze and had not been trading well.

"As things transpired staff wages weren't fully paid and suppliers from time to time were unpaid," he said.

The court heard in the lead-up to the fire, the cafe's chef and a waiter had confronted Mr Gibbons about shortfalls in their wages.

Mr Powell said Mr Gibbons told both of the staff members that he could "burn the place down" and give them money from the insurance claim.

"He was responsible for setting fire to his cafe," Mr Powell said.

"He did so because he was in financial peril and he saw it as a means of rescuing himself by making a false claim on his insurance policy.

"That in a nutshell is the prosecution's case."

The prosecution alleged that on the day of the fire Mr Gibbons also received an email from his landlord's property manager seeking $5,000 in unpaid rent.

Owner claimed he noticed staircase was on fire

The jury heard that in the five months before the fire, the cafe's bank account had depleted from $35,000 to about $2,000 and Mr Gibbons' personal account contained just $1,000.

On the night of the fire, he claimed he was doing paperwork in the apartment above the cafe when he noticed the staircase was on fire.

He called triple-0 and was rescued by firefighters from a neighbouring balcony.

"He told police he had nothing to do with lighting the fire, in fact, he told the police that in his opinion it was the landlord who was responsible," Mr Powell said.

He said police interviewing Mr Gibbons after the fire noticed the hair on his arms had been singed.

"He denied getting close enough to the fire for that to have occurred but seemed to appreciate that it could have only occurred… by getting close to the flame or close to the fire at some stage," he said.

The trial before Judge Michael Boylan and a jury is expected to run for four days.