Is anybody surprised that the so called House of horrors has been burned down?
No - I don't think so. That this would happen was as inevitable as the sun rising in the East.
The house is a semi-detached property and reading between the lines the people in the other house had moved their property out and were not staying there when the fire occurred.
And who, realistically, would want to stay in either house anyway?
A bit of huffing and puffing is going on - if the authorities knew it was going to happen why didn't they put a police guard on the place and so forth. Gee how practical is that? How long would you be prepared to see a police officer or officers tied up for guarding a doomed house that everybody wants to see the back of anyway.
I'm not a rationalist - I believe there is evil and evil visited that house and that most people want to see that evil cleansed in some sense.
I think instinctively just about everybody feels the same way. There is tsk tsking over this "arson" to be sure - but that is just the form of it.
My guess is deep down everybody has a sense of relief that the deed has been done, though few will admit it - probably not even to themselves.