Porter Davis Collapses: A young family’s home in Riverfield, Clyde, Melbourne, set on fire
A young family is financially ruined after their new home is set on fire in a suspected arson attack by cronies seeking revenge for Porter Davis’s collapse.
Firefighters were unsuccessfully trying to save the nearly completed house when it burst into flames on the Riverfield estate in Clyde, on Melbourne’s southeastern outskirts.
The inferno swept through the building – two months after completion – destroying the roof and gutting the interior on Monday afternoon.
Police now suspect a firebug may be behind the attack, after neighbors said they saw someone enter the building shortly before the blaze broke out.
The fire has shattered the dreams of a heartbroken couple and their three children who were just weeks away from moving in and left them with a financial nightmare.
Dozens of transactions went unpaid in the company’s collapse, some saying they took out their frustration on the Porter Davis homes they were working on.
A young family (pictured outside the smoldering remains) have spoken of their heartbreak after their new home burned down in a suspected arson attack by tragicomites seeking revenge for the Porter Davis collapse
They revealed they had just entered the lock-up phase and paid $94,000 to Porter Davis the day before the builder filed for bankruptcy on Friday, leaving about 1,800 homes unfinished in Victoria and Queensland.
The family also has a $400,000 loan for the home that was destroyed by the fire and may not be covered by insurance.
“We are in absolute terror,” the couple, who declined to be identified, told Nine’s Today show after inspecting the smoldering remains.
“This was our dream house. It’s heartbreaking. How we will survive from this situation, we do not know. We are stuck.
“No one wants to see this kind of thing, not even in a bad dream, but this is the reality. We’ve been in tears since we left here – couldn’t sleep last night.
“In a few months this could have been our home. Now we don’t have a house.’
They now hope that someone steps forward to help them with legal advice as they desperately fight for a way out of the financial hell they have been left in.
Traditions seeking revenge are suspected of being behind a fireball attack on a Porter Davis home (pictured) in revenge for unpaid work after the builder went bankrupt on Friday
Grant Thorburn’s Matt Burns, the liquidator appointed after Porter Davis went bankrupt, warned there was little they could do.
“It’s an incredibly difficult situation for those homeowners — it’s a devastating story,” he told the show.
“We are limited in what we can do – we are not in funds. The company ran out of money by the time we were hired, so we can’t go in and secure 1800 homes.
“What we’re trying to do right now is work with as many of those homeowners as possible to try and help them get into their homes quickly.
“We think we can help some of those families and moms and dads get into their homes.
“But the reality is, unfortunately, there won’t be an answer for all those homeowners.”
A According to the owner, vandals caused $50,000 worth of damage to her home in Berwick, in Melbournethe southeast.
She alleged that irate subcontractors deliberately left faucets running in the sink and bathroom, flooding the property with more than three inches of water.
They also scratched open the doors and walls with a knife or key and broke them open.
Other Porter Davis homes had their windows smashed and doors scratched
The woman believes angry cronies left the taps running in her bathroom, flooding the house
The woman said she notified police after another Porter Davis home in the area suffered similar damage the same night.
Others also reported that Porter Davies properties were targeted by vandals, with the windows of three buildings in a block reportedly smashed.
The woman believed that their house had been targeted by craftsmen who had no money.
“What they did didn’t hit Porter Davis at all, but unfortunately only us, because now the damage is greater than what we had left on the house,” she said.
“It’s appalling to understand that someone would actually break in and do this to our home.”
She and her partner would move into the building with their 13-day-old baby on Thursday.
“We have worked so hard and put a lot of money into this house, just hoping we can bring our new baby home this week.
‘Twelve days ago was the happiest day of our lives as we welcomed our first baby boy.
“We were supposed to be handed over on Thursday until the news broke. Today our house is completely destroyed making everything extremely difficult to move forward.’
Matt Burns, of Grant Thorburn, the liquidator appointed after Porter Davis went bankrupt, warned there was little they could do to secure homes left behind by the developer
Victoria Police said detectives were on the hunt for a suspected arsonist for the firebug attack on the family’s unfinished home.
“Emergency services arrived at the scene of a fire at a property in Clyde North at around 4.30pm on Monday 3 April,” a spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
“The building at Adante Court was unoccupied at the time and no one was injured.
“The cause of the fire is under investigation, which is considered suspicious at this stage.”