Vigilante tradies set fire to a brand new house in Porter Davis after the construction company collapsed, leaving thousands – while other heartbroken homeowners are left with flooded homes and scratched doors
- Porter Davis’ nearly completed house is on fire in Melbourne
- Arson comes after trades destroyed other homes
Traditions bent on revenge are suspected of being behind a fireball attack on a Porter Davis home to pay back unpaid work after the builder went bankrupt on Friday.
Images of the house under construction in the Riverfield housing estate in Clyde, on Melbourne’s southeastern outskirts, showed the nearly completed house ablaze.
Firefighters desperately tried to save the house, but the flames had already taken hold on the roof and much of it collapsed.
Police launched an investigation into the mysterious fire after witnesses said a man entered the property shortly before the fire broke out.
“Porter Davis’ house at a near-closed stage just burned down,” a neighbor said in video footage of the gutted house posted to social media.
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
“I’m so sorry if this is your house. A neighbor reportedly saw someone enter before it caught fire.
“I really hope this wasn’t on purpose because that is absolutely devastating. Another blow to a Porter Davis customer who is already suffering.
‘This escalates.’
Victoria Police said detectives were on the hunt for a suspected arsonist.
“Emergency services arrived at the scene of a fire at a property in Clyde North at around 4.30pm on Monday 3 April,” a spokesman 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.”
The attack comes after another house was vandalized by suspected vigilantes enraged by the developer’s collapse.
Porter Davis filed for bankruptcy on Friday, forcing work to completely halt work on more than 1,500 properties in Victoria, with numerous transactions going unpaid.
The owner estimated that the vandals caused $50,000 worth of damage to her home in Berwick, Melbourne’s south-east.
She claimed the irate subcontractors had deliberately left the faucets in the sink and bathroom running, 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.
The woman said she notified police after another Porter Davis home in the area suffered similar damage the same night.
Other individuals reported that Porter Davies’ properties were targeted by vandals, with the windows of three buildings in a block reportedly smashed.
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 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.
“I am absolutely devastated and shocked,” she said.
“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.’