Spring Break
Officials blame luxury home fires on 'domestic terrorism'
Mar. 4, 2008
Peyton Whitely - The Seattle TimesIssue date: 2/28/08 Section: MCT News
SEATTLE _ Officials are blaming "domestic terrorism" for fires early Monday that destroyed three multi-million-dollar homes and damaged a fourth in the Seattle area.
Damage was estimated at $7 million.
Explosive devices were found inside the homes. And nearby, a spray-painted sign bearing the initials of the Earth Liberation Front, challenged builders' assertion that the homes featured environmentally responsible construction methods.
A KING-TV video showed the sign, which read: "Built Green? Nope black! McMansions in RCDs r not green. ELF" The initials "RCD" refers to "rural cluster development."
The Earth Liberation Front has claimed responsibility for other arsons, including one at the University of Washington in 2001 for which a woman is now on trial in Tacoma.
The fires were reported at 4 a.m. PST and more than five hours later flames were still rising from a natural-gas pipeline which crews from Puget Sound Energy were working to control.
The damaged homes, all unoccupied, were included among Seattle Street of Dreams homes in the Quinn's Crossing development. The homes that burned were between 4,200 and 4,750 square feet in size, with prices up to nearly $2 million.
The Seattle Street of Dreams is a 30-year-old home-building home tour, intended to show luxury home-building and trends in architecture, interior design, home technology and landscaping. The destroyed homes were featured last June.
No injuries were reported in the three-alarm fire. A terrorism task force which includes police, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is investigating. Investigators stopped short of blaming the ELF for today's fires, but acknowledged finding the sign with the group's initials.
The devastation was a blow to the owners of the properties, which are on the market.
"It's sad. It's just a shock. I don't know what to tell you," said Grey Lundberg of CMI Homes, based in Bellevue, Wash., as he looked at the smoking remains of an award-winning home built by his company.
Damage was estimated at $7 million.
Explosive devices were found inside the homes. And nearby, a spray-painted sign bearing the initials of the Earth Liberation Front, challenged builders' assertion that the homes featured environmentally responsible construction methods.
A KING-TV video showed the sign, which read: "Built Green? Nope black! McMansions in RCDs r not green. ELF" The initials "RCD" refers to "rural cluster development."
The Earth Liberation Front has claimed responsibility for other arsons, including one at the University of Washington in 2001 for which a woman is now on trial in Tacoma.
The fires were reported at 4 a.m. PST and more than five hours later flames were still rising from a natural-gas pipeline which crews from Puget Sound Energy were working to control.
The damaged homes, all unoccupied, were included among Seattle Street of Dreams homes in the Quinn's Crossing development. The homes that burned were between 4,200 and 4,750 square feet in size, with prices up to nearly $2 million.
The Seattle Street of Dreams is a 30-year-old home-building home tour, intended to show luxury home-building and trends in architecture, interior design, home technology and landscaping. The destroyed homes were featured last June.
No injuries were reported in the three-alarm fire. A terrorism task force which includes police, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is investigating. Investigators stopped short of blaming the ELF for today's fires, but acknowledged finding the sign with the group's initials.
The devastation was a blow to the owners of the properties, which are on the market.
"It's sad. It's just a shock. I don't know what to tell you," said Grey Lundberg of CMI Homes, based in Bellevue, Wash., as he looked at the smoking remains of an award-winning home built by his company.
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