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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Saturday, June 28, 2008 'Major case' status for fires The FBI now can use more resources to investigate the Street of Dreams arsons. By Jackson Holtz Herald Writer MALTBY -- The arsons that destroyed the Street of Dreams near Echo Lake now are part of an FBI "major case" focusing on Northwest ecoterrorism fires. That designation means finding whoever is responsible will have similar emphasis as the investigation into the Sept. 11 attacks and the Unabomber, officials said this week. Several arsons in Snohomish County and Camano Island believed to be started by the Earth Liberation Front, a loosely connected environmental extremist group, will be investigated under an operation named "Green Links," FBI spokeswoman Robbie Burroughs said. "We are operating under the theory that they (ELF) are responsible because there was a claim of responsibility," she said. Hand-painted banners left at several fires were signed ELF. Under the major case designation, FBI agents will have access to additional resources and can better coordinate efforts. "It's a way for us to address them all under the same umbrella," she said. Several arsons believed to be started by ecoterrorists will be investigated. Burroughs declined to list all the fires in the Green Links case. The investigation is No. 258 on the FBI's major case list. Other earlier major investigations included the terrorist attacks that destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the Olympic bombing in Atlanta, among others, Burroughs said. Burroughs said Green Links will include the March 3 fires that destroyed three homes and damaged two others on the Street of Dreams near Maltby. Agents also will include the 2006 fire that destroyed a dream home on Camano Island. ELF activists are believed responsible for $10 million in damage in Snohomish County and on Camano Island for repeated fires and attempted arsons since 2004. There have been no arrests. Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com. Reward for information on fires Anyone with information about the Street of Dreams fires that destroyed three houses and damaged two others or any other house fire that may be the work of the Earth Liberation Front is asked to call the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force at 206-622-0460 or e-mail seattle@fbi.gov. A $100,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of suspected ecoterrorists who burned down homes in Washington.

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