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December 16, 2004
Arson investigators have still not found
a suspect or clear evidence of motive in what was the largest
case of residential arson ever in Maryland and one of the
most curious arsons in the United States.
A total of 19 newly built but unoccupied homes were set on
fire in the Hunters Brooke subdivision in Mason Springs, Maryland,
in the early morning hours of December 6. Ten of the homes
were destroyed in an arson resulting in $10 million in total
damage. An additional 10 fires were unsuccessfully attempted.
Mason Springs is in Charles County, south of Washington, D.C.
Motive speculation has been wide-ranging, from eco-terrorism
to a racially motivated hate crime. Many of the purchasers
of homes in the subdivision, priced generally at about $400,000
to $500,000, were African-American, but law enforcement officials
were ruling out a racial motive.
The subdivision, adjacent to an ecologically sensitive wetland,
has been subject of a dispute between environmentalists and
the developers. This arson, although large in scale, is similar
in nature to those committed by militant environmentalist
group Earth Liberation Front.
John E. Czarnecki, Assoc. AIA
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