An Edens Landing resident has shared the horror of being woken in the early hours of Sunday morning, his house just minutes from catching alight.
He was victim of an apparent arson spree, with his work ute and his daughter’s first car both under 3m-high flames in their driveway.
“The lady from down the street was banging on the door to let us know,” the man, who asked not to be identified, said.
The man, who works in fire safety, said the cars were well and truly alight by the time he was able to get his family, including his wife, daughters and the dog, out of the house.
One of the cars was parked within metres of the home’s garage door, and evidence of burn marks can be seen on the eves of the roof.
“The fire fighters who were here told me we were about two minutes away from losing our house,” he said.
“The cars are insured, and we’ll get new ones. The family is okay. We could have lost everything. It could have been a whole lot worse. But obviously we’d rather this had never happened.
“It’s all a bit surreal at the moment. Things like this don’t happen to us.”
One of the cars belonged to the man’s daughter, aged 16, who is currently on her learner’s permit. She has had the car for three months.
They weren’t the only victims of the senseless attack. Two other cars further down the street were razed to the ground in their driveway, and another car nearby was melted in parts.
Fires had also been lit in at least one bin.
On Sunday night, police released CCTV footage of a man, taken from a local home security system. They say the man can help with their investigations.
Neighbours said residents of the house with security footage had confronted the man, telling him to leave their property.
Nearby in Grove Road, police responded to reports of a break-in.
When they arrived at adjoining Holliday Drive soon after 3.40am, a bin and five cars were engulfed in flames.
Nobody was physically injured as a result of the fires. Police are investigating possible links due to their proximity.
Anyone with information is urged to contact police.
