Video: Arson investigators sifting through ashes of 4 homes

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WOODINVILLE, Wash. - The Puget Sound Joint Terrorism Task force of FBI and ATF agents, along with county authorities, are investigating the "Street of Dreams" luxury home fires near Woodinville as a potential domestic terrorism act.

Fire officials say explosive devices were found inside the four of the homes in the development near Woodinville.

Initial reports say people heard what sounded like gunshots.

Three homes were destroyed. Two had smoke damage.

Snohomish County sheriff's spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said damage is estimated at $7 million.

No injuries were reported in the three-alarm fire, which started around 5 a.m. Monday.

A sign with the initials of a radical environmental group was found at the scene, an official said.

The sign, which had the initials of the Earth Liberation Front, mocked claims the luxury homes on the "Street of Dreams" were environmentally friendly.

"Built Green? Nope BLACK!" the sign said.

The fires started at a strip of unoccupied, furnished luxury model homes where developers show off the latest in high-end housing, interior design and landscaping. The homes are later sold.

Fire Chief Rick Eastman of Snohomish County District Seven said some of the homes were still under construction and no one was living in them at the time.

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This 5-ft.-by-5-ft. note signed by ELF was discovered near the fire scene.

Eastman said the fires were suspicious because they were set in multiple places in separate homes. Firefighters let the fires burn out for fear they could possibly be booby-trapped.

"I'm not letting crews get in the buildings. It's a defensive fire right now," said Eastman. "We heard several explosions inside of there."

The 5-foot by 5-foot sign found at the scene read "Built Green? Nope BLACK! McMansions + RCD's r not green. ELF" RCD means rural cluster development.

Kevin Crenshaw of the FBI said the only thing this incident has in common with other acts of eco-terror is the banner.

"But we don't even know the authenticity of that banner yet," he said.

The Street of Dreams is an annual showcase of luxury homes in the Seattle area. The latest development is off Highway 522 at Echo Lake Drive.

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

The homes that burned were between 4,200 and 4,750 square feet in size, with prices up to nearly $2 million.

"The environmental part of the house was a passion of mine," said Grey Lundberg, a builder of one of the houses. "We've put a lot into this house."

Lundberg said he cannot understand why an envionmental group would strike the home he built. It incorporated the lastest in eco-friendly standards and even won environmental awards.

"My stomach was just upside down. It was just nauseating," he said.

The homes are in a development near the headwaters of Bear Creek, which is home to endangered chinook salmon. Opponents of the development had questioned whether the luxury homes could pollute the creek and an aquifer that is a drinking water source, and whether enough was done to protect nearby wetlands.

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NBC reports that these investigators are standing around an incindiary fluid that failed to go off.

ELF is known for trying to cause economic damage to companies or organizations it considers to be harming the environment. The group has no organized structure or leadership; typically, autonomous cells of activists take "direct actions" such as arsons and claim responsibility on behalf of ELF.

Since 1990, more than 1,200 criminal acts in the U.S. have been attributed to ELF and its sister organization, the Animal Liberation Front, said FBI spokesman Bill Carter.

Most notorious was a 2003 fire that destroyed an apartment complex near the University of California, San Diego, causing $50 million in damage.

In 2005 and 2006, federal authorities charged more than a dozen people involved in an ELF cell known as "the Family" and centered near Olympia, Wash., and Eugene, Ore. The group was responsible for at least 17 fires around the West from 1996 to 2001 -- including the 1998 destruction of a lodge at the Vail ski resort in Colorado, a fire that caused $12 million in damage.

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Damage from the fires near Woodinville is estimated at $7 million.

A federal jury in Tacoma was deliberating Monday in the case of another accused ELF activist. Briana Waters could face at least 35 years if convicted of helping to firebomb the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture in 2001.

Investigators had no evidence linking the fires to the trial, Seattle FBI agent Fred Gutt said.

Waters' lawyer, Robert Bloom, asked the judge to declare a mistrial Monday morning, citing the possibility that the fires -- and their ensuing publicity -- could influence the jury.

"It is inconceivable that anybody who is supporting Briana's case could have been responsible for this," Bloom said.

The judge rejected Bloom's request.

Waters, a 32-year-old violin teacher from Oakland, Calif., is accused of serving as a lookout while her friends planted the firebomb, which caused $7 million in damage. The horticulture center was targeted because the ELF activists mistakenly believed researchers there were genetically engineering trees, investigators said.

Reward offered

The Building Industry Association of Washington and the FBI were offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

Anyone who has knowledge of these fires is asked to call the Arson Hotline (800-55-ARSON) or contact authorities. Callers may remain anonymous.

KING 5's Gary Chittim and Tim Robinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.