Until Monday morning, Hunters Brooke looked much like thousands of subdivisions under construction in the American countryside.
Within a few hours, the dreams of prospective homeowners were reduced to smoking rubble, as arson-driven fires destroyed completed and partially completed houses and terrified a small group of residents who had already moved into the community.
Yesterday, as fog and rain enveloped this rural area 30 miles south of Washington, more than 100 fire investigators combed through one of the largest crime scenes they had ever probed, looking for clues as to the motive and method of the suspected arsonists.
The Hunters Brooke development has been the subject of an environmental dispute, so ecoterrorism was among the possible motives being pursued. FBI spokesman Barry Maddox cautioned, "Nothing is ruled in and nothing is ruled out."
In all, 26 homes were burned, 12 completely. Arson had been established in seven of the homes by late yesterday, according to Maryland deputy fire marshal W. Faron Taylor. He estimated the damage at $10 million.
The two-story wood-framed homes were selling for between $400,000 and $500,000.
"There were burned-out homes, some in various stages of completion and some with burned, caved-in foundations," said Nina Voehl, a Charles County official.
Taylor said that investigators knew how the fires were started, but declined to reveal the method for fear of compromising the investigation. Published reports said investigators for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found incendiary devices consisting of accelerant in jugs.
"Progress is going along very well," said Taylor as he stood in a light rain at the foot of the road leading to the subdivision. "We've completed the cause and origin of seven fires and now we're working on the other 19."
Several structures were ablaze when firefighters arrived at 4:45 a.m. Monday. The fact that other blazes soon became apparent was because they were started inside enclosed homes, Taylor said, and not because the arsonists were still on the scene.
Taylor said the fire-damaged homes encompassed some six acres in the development, where about 70 homes were finished or under construction.
ATF spokesman Mike Campbell said the crime scene was probably the largest in area and number of structures ever to be probed by the agency's national response team.
The second-largest, he said, was at a ski resort in Vail, Colo., in 1998 and resulted in $12 million in damage. Responsibility for that fire was claimed by the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), an organization of radical environmentalists that has also burned condominiums in La Jolla, Calif., and a lumber-company office in Oregon in 1999.
Maddox and the others declined to single out ecoterrorism as the Maryland motive.
"We're well aware of the ELF organization and other environmental organizations," the FBI spokesman said.
Hunters Brooke and a planned sister community, Falcon Ridge, have drawn determined opposition from environmental groups, which sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers for allowing houses to be built in apparent violation of the Clean Water Act.
Environmentalists said that the construction would damage the adjacent Araby Bog, a 6.5-acre wetlands that is home to endangered insects and rare plants. The magnolia bog - so named for the fragrant sweet bay magnolia evergreen trees that ring the wetlands - is one of the few that still exist anywhere.
The bog also filters water that flows into the nearby Mattawoman Creek Environment Area and the Potomac River.
In July, U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte denied a petition for an injunction against construction of the development but ordered the Army Corps of Engineers to provide a more complete justification for allowing the sewer line and road into Hunters Brooke. The corps has appealed that decision.
Motorists driving south along Maryland Route 225 toward the subdivision are greeted by signs that say "Save Araby Bog" and "NO Cookie Cutter Sprawl."
The Sierra Club noted the planned 300-home development in a recent report, calling it "quintessential sprawl." On Monday, the organization issued a statement condemning "all acts of violence in the name of the environment."
Jonathan Tepper, sales and marketing manager for the regional division of Lennar Corp.-US Homes, the developer, said that 16 homes in Hunters Brooke had been sold and closed. He said several owners had bought the homes as Christmas presents for their families.
Taylor, the deputy fire marshal, said that investigators were exploring other motives, including juvenile vandalism - which accounts for more than half of all arsons - and pyromania.
One motive that investigators seemed to dismiss was racial hatred. Most of the new homeowners are African Americans, they said.
"It's a great community. It has great schools in the area," said Capt. Joseph Montminy of the Charles County Sheriff's Office. "Everyone wants to live here."
Related:
