‘Suspicious': Influencer's home firebombed in targeted attack
Caitlin Lyndon, popularly known as ' fitmum ' online, was celebrating with friends on Sunday when she received a late-night call at 2am informing her of the attack.
Victorian police told news.com.au the fire in Sandhurst, 37 km southeast of Melbourne's CBD, was considered 'suspicious'.
'Police are investigating a suspicious house fire in Sandhurst on 13 July,' they said.
'Emergency services responded to reports of a house fire on Malua Circuit, with at least two people fleeing the scene in a dark coloured hatch about 2am.
'No one was inside the house at the time of the blaze.'
A short time later, police responded to reports of an abandoned car on fire in a street approximately five minutes away.
Investigators are working to determine if the two incidents are linked.
Ms Lyndon, who is a mum of one and an OnlyFans creator, said her home had been so badly damaged she 'literally fell on the floor' when she heard the news.
The influencer, who has 84,000 followers on Instagram, told The Daily Telegraph that she was struggling to understand why her home had allegedly been targeted in the arson attack.
'I cannot fathom that somebody would do this to me,' she told the outlet.
'Everyone has enemies … I think everyone pisses people off in every life, but I would never imagine having pissed people off enough to have your personal home lit on fire where you and your son's belongings are.'
After the incident, Ms Lyndon took to social media in a rant and lashed out at the alleged attackers, labelling them as 'f***ing rats' despite not knowing who could be responsible.
Police have said that an arson chemist will attend the scene but encourages anyone with information that could assist police to come forward.
Ms Lyndon had only recently moved into the home just two months ago, but the fire damage has made the property now 'uninhabitable'.
'I lost everything. People can hate and say I'm just in Bali and living life, but this is the worst experience of my life,' she said.
'I will be going into emergency housing, which is my only option at the moment, but my main focus is to keep my son in routine … obviously, he's lost all his toys.'
In her Instagram video, she shared that her house was fitted with CCTV but it was somehow disabled before the attack.
'And I live in the biggest Karen estate ever, so this is just grouse,' she said.
'I didn't even think you could shut down CCTV so these c**ts are just dogs.'
She said at the end of the day, she was 'grateful' her son and dogs were safe and that she could 'replace our furniture', but not her family.
'I've never wanted to hold my baby so tight in all my life. True friends and families' colours are shown in times like this,' she said.
'I'm not afraid to cry and show you that I have f***ing emotions because you know what I worked my a** off to get to where I was, and even if I've lost everything, you've burnt it down and you've ruined my life. I will build my life again, but my son does not deserve this.'
She also shared a photo to her Instagram stories showing the damage to her home.
'My home,' she wrote next to a crying emoji.
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