A Miami Beach pensioner who allegedly vowed to burn down his apartment building with “all the f***ing Jews” after facing eviction from his condominium is facing charges of attempted arson and attempted murder.

Walter Stolper, 72, had reportedly been aggressive towards residents and the board of directors of his building.

On Friday afternoon, police found 28 containers of gasoline, sulphur powder and potassium nitrate in a storage room linked to Stolper.

“We believe we were minutes away from a potentially deadly situation,” said Miami Beach Police spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez.

“This is an individual that our intelligence unit intercepted with two filled gasoline tanks as he was coming back into the apartment building. Already in the building, he had disposed of eight additional gasoline canisters down the trash chute from the 15th floor.”

When officers arrived, they could smell gas.

In Stolper's apartment, police found "Nazi reading material" and a swastika. They also seized firearms.

"This is a very, very, very dangerous individual," Mr Rodriguez said.

Police also said Stolper had purchased two electrical fans to fan the flames and destroyed the smoke detector in his condominium, which was hardwired into the building’s fire system.

According to the police report, after being read his rights, Stolper said he had bought the gasoline canisters "to make a small BBQ".

Mr Rodriguez added that they had acted on a tip suggesting the accused was making "a lot of derogatory comments towards the Jewish community. We later learned there was a pending eviction for him.”