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.

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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