Police searching for man who set fire to 16-year-old girl’s bedroom

Police have released CCTV footage of a man setting fire to a home as part of their investigations into the brazen arson attack.

A young girl has been left shaken after a man set fire to her home as she slept.

Police are searching for a man who was caught on CCTV setting fire directly outside the bedroom of a 16-year-old girl in regional Victoria.

The man approached the home on Holdsworth Rd in Long Gully, Bendigo about 1am on Friday, July 22 and set fire to the weatherboard house.

The girl, woken as her room filled with smoke, alerted her 52-year-old father.

Firefighters attended the scene on the night and brought the fire under control.

There were no physical injuries sustained during the incident.

Police are investigating after a man set fire to a house in Long Gully. Picture: VicPol

Police have released CCTV footage of the offender making an unsuccessful first attempt to set the home alight from the front of the house before moving down the side of the building to set a weatherboard ablaze with a cigarette lighter.

He is described as having a medium build and was wearing a hoodie and work boots.

Police are yet to establish a motive behind the attack.

Senior Constable Ashley Sutton said the nature of the offence was concerning for the local community.

“The sheer brazenness of an offence like this, where the offender has overtly walked up to the house to light it on fire, it’s a concern for us, it’s a concern for the greater Bendigo community, and we’re just so lucky this didn’t end in tragedy,” he said on Thursday.

“We’re so lucky the teenage girl was woken up by the smoke,” he added.

“If it wasn’t for her calling triple-0 and the immediate action of the firefighters and police on the night, it could’ve been a completely different story.”

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crimes Stoppers on 1800 333 000

Originally published as Police searching for man who set fire to 16-year-old girl’s bedroom