LYNNWOOD – Matt Echelbarger wanted to build a community where families can feel safe.
His goal has been tarnished, he said.
Fire investigators are still looking for whoever set fire to three homes under construction in the Pioneer Circle development north of Lynnwood during the past week, Snohomish County Fire District 1 spokeswoman Leslie Hynes said.
Echelbarger Development LLC, the company that owns Pioneer Circle, is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
“We need to catch these people and put an end to it,” Matt Echelbarger said. “We’re not the only ones building houses. It’s a threat for all of us in the industry.”
Pioneer Circle, near the intersection of 159th Street SW and 36th Avenue W., is scheduled for completion by spring with 36 homes.
The first house fire at the development occurred Monday morning. In addition to fire damage, someone scrawled racial slurs inside a portable office set up inside the garage, Echelbarger said.
Also Monday, a house across the street from the fire-damaged home was vandalized, Echelbarger said. Gutters were ripped from the roof, masonry stones were smashed and tools were scattered around the construction site.
Firefighters were called to the other two house fires just before 1 a.m. Wednesday.
Damage to the three houses is expected to eclipse $200,000, according to the Snohomish County Fire Marshal’s Office.
Echelbarger doesn’t know whether the houses can be salvaged.
“I don’t personally feel in danger, but I feel a bit of danger for the project,” he said.
Anyone with information about the fires is asked to call the Snohomish County Fire Marshal’s Office at 425-388-3557.
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