Four 'Street of Dream' homes burned by blaze, probable ELF arson [Archive]

Chief

03-03-2008, 11:09 AM

More info on this story....this is not good...

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004256586_webdreamsfire03m.html

By Peyton Whitely

Seattle Times Eastside bureau

Three multimillion-dollar homes, built as part of last year's Street of Dreams showcase, were destroyed and two more were damaged by fire in the Maltby area of Snohomish County early today. Officials say a banner found nearby indicates the blazes may have been set by a radical environmental group.

Damage was estimated at $7 million.

Explosive devices were found inside the homes. And nearby, a spray-painted sign that bore the initials of the Earth Liberation Front, challenged builders' assertion that the homes featured environmentally responsible construction methods.

A KING-5 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. 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 destroyed homes, all unoccupied, were among five Seattle Street of Dreams homes in the Quinn's Crossing development near Highway 522. The homes that burned were between 4,200 and 4,750 square feet in size, with prices up to nearly $2 million.

The 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. Police, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating.

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, as he looked at the smoking remains of an award-winning home built by his company.

Lundberg said he and other developers at the site had striven to build homes that were as environmentally friendly as possible, filled with such features as high-efficiency insulation and recycled materials.

He noted his company recently received an award from the National Association of Homebuilders for its "green," or environmental, qualities and the overall quality of the construction.

"We're just trying to make a statement that we can do better," he said. "It's just really sad."

Lundberg said his company's home was about 4,000 square feet and was for sale for about $2 million. Five homes were in the development, and all of them were of similar size and price, he added.

Lundberg said the homes had video-surveillance systems, but the one at his property had been turned off, since it was felt it wasn't necessary.

The Quinn's Crossing project had drawn opposition from neighbors who said its septic systems could damage critical wetlands needed to protect an aquifer used by about 20,000 people in the area and could harm streams used by chinook salmon. The Snohomish County Council approved the project in March 2007.

The luxury homes were built using septic systems with drain fields ending near these critical areas. Residents said the natural system would be overloaded by the septic arrangement. They also feared the system would further endanger chinook salmon.

Open houses had been held at the development throughout the winter, he said, without incident, although none of the properties had sold. One house did have a pending-sale offer, Lundberg said.

One judge in the 2007 Street of Dreams event said the homes used Built Green standards such as water-pervious sidewalks, super-insulated walls and windows and products made with recycled materials, such carpet pads.

"It's very disappointing to take a situation where we're tying to promote good building practices — Built Green practices — and that it's destroyed ... I don't understand the logic in that," said Doug Barnes, immediate past president of the Master Builders Association of King & Snohomish Counties.

Advertising for last summer's Street of Dreams show focused on the environmentally friendly aspects of the homes, which were smaller than some of the huge houses featured in years past.

Peyton Whitely: 206-464-2259 or pwhitely@seattletimes.com.