Tom Petty dared to challenge the music industry and [they] burnt down his house.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers had two records under their belt and were on a roll when Petty became mired in a legal battle after trying to renegotiate his contract with Shelter Records. Petty was unhappy with the terms of his contract with Shelter and seized upon the sale of the label by ABC to industry giant MCA as an opportunity to declare himself a free agent. Tom said he would not be "bought and sold like a piece of meat." ….
Tom survived a house fire that was an apparent attempt on his life. At 10:00 on the morning of May 17, 1987, Petty's house in Encino, California, went up in flames with Tom, his wife, one of their daughters and their housekeeper in it…
After an investigation, it was determined that a staircase behind the house had been doused in a flammable liquid and set on fire. To date, the arson case has neither been closed nor solved. Two days after the fire, a shaken Petty was back out on tour.
https://www.guitartricks.com/blog/Rocks-Rebel-9-Things-That-Make-Tom-Petty-Such-a-Badass