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A ‘suspicious’ fire has destroyed the beachfront home of popular Australian Youtuber FriendlyJordies, with police suspecting the blaze was started deliberately.
Emergency services were called to Wilga Street in Bondi at about 12.30am on Wednesday to find the house engulfed in flames.
Jordan Shanks-Markovina, known as FriendlyJordies on his popular but divisive political commentary YouTube channel, lives at the back of the stricken property but was not home at the time of the fire.
It was the second suspected arson attack at the home in the past week.
On November 16, a smaller fire broke out at Bondi’s home, but it was extinguished before it caused any significant damage.
Firefighters were seen at the house early Wednesday investigating the blaze from a ladder as they used two hoses to put out the blaze.
Firefighters were called to Wilga Street in Bondi around 12:30am on Wednesday, where they set the home of Youtuber FriendlyJordies ablaze (pictured)
Jordan Shanks-Markovina, known as FriendlyJordies on his popular YouTube political commentary channel, lives at the rear of the affected property
Two elderly residents escaped at the front of the burning building, while another three neighbors evacuated their neighboring home.
Emergency services confirmed that no one was injured in the fire.
Video of the scene showed the house completely destroyed by fire and the rooms reduced to ashes.
The closed street was filled with emergency vehicles, including police, ambulance, fire and rescue vehicles.
Concerned residents lined the street and watched as firefighters battled the immense blaze.
Firefighters were hosing each other down — a cooling technique used to lower core temperatures — after the blaze was extinguished.
NSW Police said they considered the fire ‘suspicious’ and are investigating whether Wednesday’s fire and the Nov. 16 fire are connected.
“Police have established a crime scene and the fire area will be investigated by specialist officers,” NSW Police said.
NSW Police are treating the fire as ‘suspicious’ and are investigating whether it is linked to a suspected arson attack on the same property
Firefighters used a ladder to examine the blaze from above (left) while two hoses were used to extinguish the blaze (right))
NSW Fire and Rescue Adam Dewberry said specialist forensic police and dogs “trained in the use of locating accelerators” were inside the house to comb through the rubble and investigate the cause of the blaze.
‘The cause and origin of the fire [are] is currently under investigation by specialists who will also ensure that the fire has not caused structural damage elsewhere in the house,” Mr Dewberry said.
Firefighters in full personal protective equipment were seen at the house with a police labrador.
Neighbor Astrid Rickard said she woke up to the sound of the fire, but initially thought it was fireworks for the World Cup.
Australia played France in its first game on Wednesday morning and the game started at 06:00 AEDT.
“We woke up and I actually thought it was fireworks for the World Cup, but I looked out of the living room [window] and actually next to it was on fire,” Mrs. Rickard said.
“We quickly got out of the house and grabbed the dog. There were already a lot of people on the street… it was quite busy.”
Ms Rickard said the fire ‘flamed up quite quickly’ because her neighbour’s house was a beautiful old 1930s house built with a lot of wood.
The sprawling beachfront home and an adjoining property were significantly damaged by the fire.
The sprawling beachfront house, described as a “beautiful old 1930s house with lots of wood,” was significantly damaged by the fire (pictured). A neighboring property was also damaged
Neighbor Astrid Rickard initially thought the fire was fireworks for the World Cup, but grabbed her dog and evacuated her house when she realized the house next door was going up in flames (pictured, left: Mrs Rickard with her dog)
Ms Rickard said she was immediately concerned the fire was related to FriendlyJordies.
‘FriendlyJordies lives at the back so we feel it has something to do with that,’ said Ms Rickard.
“This is the second attack in a week, so sitting next to the door is a little worrying.
“Someone clearly broke up with someone because this isn’t a normal house fire, this doesn’t just happen, someone threw something into that porch and set that house on fire.”
Police have urged anyone with information about the two fires to contact the Eastern Suburbs Police of Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.