March 4, 2008
MALTBY, WASH. -- Radical environmentalists torched three multimillion-dollar homes Monday that developers had touted as examples of "green" building, authorities said.
The predawn blazes destroyed three furnished homes that ranged in size from 4,200 to 4,750 square feet. They were built at the end of a wooded cul-de-sac as part of a luxury home development featured in Seattle's Street of Dreams home tour. Two other homes suffered smoke damage.
Police and FBI investigators said a spray-painted sign bearing the initials of the Earth Liberation Front mocked developers' claims that the homes were environmentally friendly.
"Built Green?" the sign read. "Nope black! McMansions in RCDs [rural cluster developments] r not green. ELF."
The attack coincided with the trial of a former member of the Earth Liberation Front now in its fourth week in Tacoma, Wash. Briana Waters, 32, of Oakland faces up to 35 years in prison if she is convicted of setting a 2001 fire at the University of Washington[where ELF mistaken thought tree genetic engineering was going on].
"Built Green?" the sign read. "Nope black! McMansions in RCDs [rural cluster developments] r not green. ELF."
The attack coincided with the trial of a former member of the Earth Liberation Front now in its fourth week in Tacoma, Wash. Briana Waters, 32, of Oakland faces up to 35 years in prison if she is convicted of setting a 2001 fire at the University of Washington[where ELF mistaken thought tree genetic engineering was going on].
Federal authorities consider the Earth Liberation Front a domestic terrorist organization.
It was clear the fires were deliberately set, said Rick Eastman, fire chief of Snohomish County District 7. Eastman said he held back his firefighters, letting the blazes burn out on their own, because he feared the homes might be booby-trapped. Incendiary devices were found inside the homes, fire officials said, and the blazes will be investigated as acts of domestic terrorism by the ATF and FBI.
It was clear the fires were deliberately set, said Rick Eastman, fire chief of Snohomish County District 7. Eastman said he held back his firefighters, letting the blazes burn out on their own, because he feared the homes might be booby-trapped. Incendiary devices were found inside the homes, fire officials said, and the blazes will be investigated as acts of domestic terrorism by the ATF and FBI.
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Watching this unfold on live TV, I couldn't help but notice the raging fire from these homes had spread to the forest around the homes; I wonder how many trees the ELF torched along with the houses? How much carbon and other gases was unleashed into the air from the burning homes, furniture and other contents?
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