Green Luxury Homes Scorched in a Blaze, ‘Signs’ Point to Eco-Terrorist Group

A row of luxury homes, that won awards for their environmentally minded construction, were the target of arson on March 3. Three "Street of Dreams" models homes were completely destroyed by the blaze, and two more sustained major smoke damage. The total damage is estimated to be about 7 million dollars. A scraggly sign bearing the initials ELF— the acronym for Earth Liberation Front, a radical environmentalist group—and the words "Built Green? Nope black!" and "McMansions in RCDs r not green", point to the possible source of the blaze.

The FBI is viewing the attack as a potential act of domestic terrorism.

Built Green?

At first glance the "Street of Dreams" housing projects looked like a well-to-do environmentalist dream come true. Spacious luxury homes that utilize recycled materials and the latest trends in design. Ads for the houses focused on the ‘Built Green’ aspects of the developments. Last summer, tens of thousands of visitors flocked to the Seattle suburb of Woodinville, Washington to take a guided tour of the seven-figure homes.

But opponents including locals and environmentalists weren’t so enthusiastic. The construction threatened to pollute nearby wetlands needed to support an aquifer that provides water to 20,000 nearby residents. The wetlands are also home to an endangered species of Chinook salmon.

What’s Next?

If the signs are authentic, and Earth Liberation Front, is in fact to blame, then this wouldn’t be the first time the group is suspected of using arson as a tactic. On the same morning that the fires blazed through the ‘Street of Dreams’, a federal jury in Tacoma deliberated in the case of Brianna Waters, an Oakland, California women who is accused of helping set fire to the University of Washington Center for Urban Horticulture. According to prosecutors, ELF attacked the center, because they mistakenly believed that it was genetically engineering poplar trees.

The Woodinville fire has green developers across the country worried. Residents share similar concerns. “They’re not helping their cause’, says Kim Quenzner, a neighbor to the torched homes.