Agents comb torched homes for clues

ECHO LAKE -- Dozens of crime-scene investigators and agents searched every inch of a rural Snohomish County cul-de-sac Tuesday, seeking clues that could help identify who targeted five luxury show homes -- destroying three of them -- in the name of the Earth Liberation Front.

Federal agents said it's too soon to know whether the arsons at the Street of Dreams, which caused $7 million in damage, were the work of a clandestine cell of radical environmentalists.

"The only thing that is consistent at this point with what we know as an ELF fire is the banner," said Kelvin Crenshaw, special agent in charge of the Seattle office of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Crenshaw was referring to a spray-painted cloth left at the scene that mocked claims that the showcased $2 million homes were built with environmentally friendly methods and materials.

The banner declared: "Built Green? Nope BLACK."

It has been sent to the FBI laboratory, where experts will look for forensic evidence such as fiber, hairs and other sources of DNA, said Dave Gomez, the assistant special agent in charge of the FBI Seattle field division.

Gomez and Crenshaw said no incendiary devices were found in the homes. Such devices are often found at the site of ELF attacks.

Crenshaw speculated that the fires may have been set using available combustibles, such as wood or paper.

Both agents left open the possibility that lab tests of materials gathered at the arson scenes could reveal the presence of an accelerant such as gasoline. Dogs trained to sniff out accelerants are being used.

Gomez said radical environmentalists may have changed arson tactics in response to the ongoing federal trial in Tacoma of alleged ELF activist Briana Waters.

If Waters is found guilty of using a destructive device in the 2001 firebombing of the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture, she faces at least 35 years in prison. Jurors were sent home for the day Tuesday afternoon after failing to reach a verdict after three days of deliberation.

Beyond the banner found Monday, there's not much pointing investigators to the Street of Dreams arsonists -- at least nothing investigators are willing to talk about.

While the subdivision north of Woodinville was equipped with security cameras, they may not have been operating at the time of Monday's fires. Crenshaw said investigators have obtained no video from the cameras.

As part of the high-tech, forensic investigation, the ATF has brought in its elite National Response Team. But old-fashioned shoe-leather detective work isn't being ignored.

"If there is anybody out there who has seen anything, we urge you to call your local police department," Crenshaw said.

Agents have begun interviewing people who might have leads.

Among them: Gail and Burke deBriere, who visited one of the Street of Dreams houses four times in the past week and were set to make an offer before arsonists turned it to ash.

		Mike Kane / P-I
	Authorities meeting the media Tuesday near the Echo Lake arsons are Kelvin Crenshaw with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, in trench coat; Dave Gomez of the FBI to his right; and Chief Rick Eastman of Snohomish Fire District 7 to Crenshaw's left.

Gail deBriere said FBI agents interviewed her Tuesday, asking about suspicious people she said she saw driving around the development Saturday.

"They were driving a very inexpensive, small car that was dirty. They were young, in dark kind of sweat shirt-material clothes," she said. "People who are going to buy a $2 million house normally wouldn't dress or drive a car like that."

DeBriere was told that 25 to 30 federal agents were interviewing people who had visited the site.

Monday's arson attack was the first in the area since 2006 in which the scrawled initials of ELF had been left at the scene.

Gomez acknowledged that a home arson in January 2006 on Camano Island and the Echo Lake fires had something in common: Left at the scene were spray-painted banners -- made from bedsheets -- that decried suburban development. The $3 million, 9,600-square-foot Camano Island house that burned was under construction when it was torched. The luxury homes at Echo Lake were built but unoccupied.

Investigators will review similarities between Monday's attack and the Camano Island arson, as well as the torching of three new houses east of Snohomish in April 2004 and two Sammamish homes in April 2005. None of those crimes has been solved.

At one of the Sammamish sites, someone left a spray-painted sheet that read in part, "Wheres all the trees?"

On the same day as the Snohomish arsons, workers at a home-construction site in nearby Maltby found bottles filled with liquid along with a threatening note written on a piece of cardboard signed with the initials ELF. It criticized suburban development.

Incendiary devices of similar construction were found at the sites of the 2004 and 2005 arsons.

ARSON REWARDS TOTAL $110,000

The Building Industry Association of Washington is offering a $100,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for Monday's arson fires. Also, the NW Insurance Council and Arson Alarm Foundation have created a separate $10,000 award fund for information.

The Building Industry Association asks people to contact the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force at 206-622-0460 or fbise@leo.gov. The Insurance Council and Arson Alarm Foundation said people should call the Arson Hotline, 800-552-7766 (800-55-ARSON) or local authorities. Callers may remain anonymous and could be eligible for an award.