FIRE in Seattle area

[ProdigalJunkMail]

BREAKING NEWS CNN WEBSITE

Several large 'Street of Dreams" homes in Seattle area are ablaze...

Looks like arson to me...

sP


http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_030308WAB_street_dreams_fires_LJ.1a79d3a7.html
Link courtesy Squatch!

[Squatch]

1. Earth Liberation Front (ELF) sign found at the scene.

Link

[ProdigalJunkMail]

4. winning the hearts and minds... n/t

[gateley]

2. Wow --

Usually the Street of Dreams locations aren't in the Seattle-proper area. And I'm hoping that it may be in a development that hasn't had a lot of families move in yet.

Thanks for the headsup!

[pdxmom]

3. ELF has claimed credit for it. And since Tre Arrow was just brought

back to Portland on Friday, I would guess this has something to do with it.

[mike_c]

5. damn, I didn't realize Tre had been extradicted....

Having watched the green scare cases with some personal interest, I doubt seriously that he will ever receive a fair trial in the U.S. There can be little justice in a nation that values stuff and corporate profits over the environment.

[pdxmom]

7. Yes, he was extradicted back on Friday. And no, the trial results are

pretty much a foregone conclusion. They want to make an example of him.

[sepulveda]

10. oh, there will be justice

for people that destroy the property that others have worked hard for.

the UW case, and i hope they get the guys responsible for this, and throw the frigging key away.

arson is terrible crime, and incredibly dangerous (former firefighter here)

[mike_c]

22. thank you for proving my point....

Stuff is just more important to some people than protecting the environment we all depend upon.

[sepulveda]

23. these morons are not protecting the environment

the jerks who did this have nothing to do with protecting the environment.

they are burning down houses (massive release of smoke and noxious chemicals into the atmosphere), they also damaged a natural gas pipeline, which was still burning last i checked.

yes, my point is that there is no justification for what ELF did (assuming it was them, based on the note left. or whomever did it), and the irony is that they CAUSED environmental damage

so, they are protesting environmental (alleged) damage by causing environmental damage

yea, that makes a lot of sense.

they are cowardly scum and i hope they are caught and prosecuted to every extent of the law.

furthermore, the homes WILL be rebuilt, thus they are causing MORE "load" on resources, since it will cost immense resources to rebuild what they destroyed, not to mention the amount of waste they created.

by all accounts, this development DID take steps to be "green" but even if they didn't, these scum are still scum for destroying what belongs to others, risking people's lives (firefighters, etc.) and acting like cowardly scum who do their little escapades like rats in the night, and then run away and hide.

there is no honour to what they are doing. they are petulant children with no sense of responsibility. and they are destroyers not creators. instead of doing something positive, they just cause pain to others.

[aikoaiko]

13. most people have never heard of him around the nation

IMHO

[sepulveda]

24. apologetics

for scumbag rat in the night arsonist noted.

Tre is a piece of garbage. note he also fled to canada to avoid prosecution. yea, real brave. do your crimes in the night, risk other people's lives and property and then run away to canada when you are fingered.

[TechBear_Seattle]

6. This actually smells like a frame-job

Arrow and other ELF leaders are brought up on charges of arson. They deny it, and the media carries this denial around the world. Then this happens.

I find it difficult to believe that members in ELF would be so stupid as to openly commit a high profile, extremely expensive arson job at this time. Far more likely are the Street of Dreams promoters, seeking insurance money for homes they are going to tear down and rebuild anyway; the trial simply provides a convenient scapegoat.

[pdxmom]

8. You could be right. The government has to remind the jury pool how

"evil" ELF is. They've been very quiet and out of the news for a long time, so the government needs to make sure the public is reminded how "scary" these folks are.

[Howardx]

9. bingo!

that was my first thought too

[BoneDaddy]

18. Let's hope they are not that stupid

but you are onto something...smells fishy to me. It would be in their own worst interest to make such a decision.

[uppityperson]

25. My thought also.

They may be dumb but they're not stupid. Or however that goes.

[Ghost Dog]

11. Hi, I don't see that ELF has claimed anything,

according to this local press report: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004256586_webdreamsfire03m.html

Some speculation at Portland Indymedia refers to possible "financial motivation for a developer to burn unsold properties": http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2008/03/372965.shtml

:shrug:

[Matariki]

12. Funny. That was my first thought

But then again, the housing market is still not so bad here in the Seattle area. Hmmm.

[LeftyMom]

14. My guess is as the market tanks we'll see a lot of this.

It's hard to make arson look like something else. It's easy to spray paint ELF on the shit you can't sell, light it, and watch the cops try to round up 20 year olds.

Remember that guy who burnt down his own pet store last year and tried to make it look like it was an ALF action? That one was an obvious fake since the animals were still inside the shop, but this sounds sketchy.

[scarletwoman]

27. "financial motivation for a developer to burn unsold properties" -- my very first thought.

ELF makes a convenient cover.

sw

[uppityperson]

26. No, ELF has NOT claimed credit for it.

Lots of stuff in papers about other stuff ELF claimed credit for, but don't see anywhere their claiming this one. If you can find something, I'd be happy to see it of course.

This article is from 2004, not about today.
# Archive | Activist group claims responsibility for fires
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=arson23m&date=20040423

[aikoaiko]

15. Historically, how did ELF claim credit for their deeds?

Messages left behind?
Anonymous notes?
?

[Xithras]

16. IIRC, there was a lawyer somewhere they were referring messages through.

In Oregon I think. I recall that he was interviewed on TV once, and even though the government thought he was an ELF member himself, he denied it. I dunno what happened to him, but I haven't heard anything about it in years.

The problem with nailing down the ELF is that it's not a coherent organization. It has no leader, no membership roles, and no formal press structure. There is no such thing as an official or unofficial ELF action. Quite honestly, the ONLY thing that makes an ELF action one of theirs is the decision by the perpetrators to call themselves ELF or to leave a calling card. If you call yourself ELF, you are. If you spraypaint ELF on the wall of a house you're burning, that becomes an ELF action.

And that's the way the ELF likes it.

[maxsolomon]

17. no one hurt.

only thing tying it to ELF at this point is spray paint.

but as we all know, developers taking a bath on unsold mcmansions that no one needs, no one wants, and only a few can afford don't have access to spray paint.

next year: i humbly propose a STREET OF GREENS. all zero-energy homes under 2000 SF. and you invite ELF to sit on the design review panel.

[BigDaddy44]

19. I wouldn't invite ELF to anything of the sort

Your idea is good except for the last part. Whether they are guilty of this espisode or not, they have proven themselves to be nothing more than vandals and arsonists. Sorry, if you act like children when you don't get your way, you don't get a seat at the big table.

[cynatnite]

20. ELF is too loosely organized for that...

Any bozo could claim to be a part of ELF.

As for 'no one hurt'...do you know how dangerous it is to fight a fire...to keep it from spreading to other homes and trees around it? Whoever did this, whether they are ELF or not, deserves to be punished for it. Not just for the monetary losses, but also the lives they put in danger because of it.

[maxsolomon]

21. i didn't say it wasn't dangerous

i said no one got hurt.

ELF sure knows how to touch nerves around here.

involving ELF in design review was not a serious suggestion. i need to remind myself: always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. i need to remind myself: always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. i need to remind myself: always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. i need to remind myself: always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. i need to remind myself: always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile. always use the :sarcasm: simile.