More arsons, but no answers

Seven torched autos in two days have anti-terror agents on the case, but a motive remains murky

Thursday, May 24, 2007

KIMBERLY A.C. WILSON Oregonian

Firebug or eco-saboteur?

The answer remained elusive Wednesday as anxiety mounted in the wake of three more truck fires in Southeast Portland and across the city line in Milwaukie, bringing the total number of intentionally burned vehicles to seven in two days.

Wednesday's attacks targeted trucks and sport utility vehicles in the hours before sunrise: a Ford Ranger, Saturn Vue and a Honda Element. On Tuesday, three of the four were Honda CR-Vs; the other was a Ranger. Each vehicle was parked in a driveway or on the street in a residential neighborhood. None had locking gas tanks. One fire caused minor damage to a house, but no one was injured.

Federal agents with expertise in domestic terrorism continued to take an active role in the Portland Fire Bureau's arson investigation, teasing the evidence for clues as to whether these were acts of eco-sabotage.

"But that's only until we determine we have a real role," said FBI spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele.

Meaning: whether the culprit is acting alone or as part of a wider plot. Other seemingly random crimes have targeted cars in Southeast Portland in recent weeks: anarchist symbols spray-painted on hoods and windows a week ago and a series of predawn tire slashings over the past three months. And despite its ability to frighten residents and baffle authorities, car arson is not an infrequent crime, here or elsewhere.

Last weekend, San Diego arson specialists investigated a suspicious blaze that destroyed four sport utility vehicles at an auto body shop. Last month in Jackson Hole, Wyo., fire officials scrutinized a series of early morning arsons targeting "gas guzzlers."

And Monday, Denver arson investigators charged a man linked to environmental sabotage with setting fire to several SUVs over four days in March. In that case, firefighters found one smoldering truck scrawled with the letters "ELF," the acronym of Earth Liberation Front, which the FBI considers a domestic terrorist group.

Whether the group has a connection to Portland's arsons remains to be seen. Tuesday's fires fell very nearly on the sixth anniversary of the last major act of eco-sabotage in Oregon, just hours before a federal judge in Eugene began hearing testimony in the sentencing of convicted eco-saboteur Stanislas Meyerhoff.

The 29-year-old Meyerhoff admitted taking part in seven ELF firebombings, including a 2001 conflagration that destroyed dozens of SUVs at a Eugene truck dealer and fires set at Jefferson Poplar Farm, near Clatskanie. He drew a 13-year sentence Wednesday.

No link established

The timing of the arsons and the court appearance of Meyerhoff "has not been lost on us," said Colene Domenech, a resident agent in charge for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Portland.

"We're investigating it," she said, "but there are no indicators it is ELF . . . related at this time."

What authorities have are the hulls of six torched vehicles, plus reports of two other vehicles that sustained collateral damage. But it is a failed arson that has captured authorities' attention.

Sometime after 3 a.m. Tuesday, someone pried open the gas tank door of Cheryl Mitzlaff's red 2000 Ford Ranger, parked in her driveway in the 7300 block of Southeast Woodward Street, and dripped gas in a line down to the curb.

A sleepy neighbor saw a trail of three flashes spark between the sidewalk and the car but was convinced her eyes were playing tricks. It wasn't until Mitzlaff was leaving for breakfast in the morning that she noticed the damage.

"My gas cap was on the ground, and it was melted," said Mitzlaff, a respiratory therapist at Legacy Emanuel Hospital & Health Center. A residue of burned gas ran down the side of the truck and the driveway. When she reported what she found to police, arson investigators and FBI agents showed up.

"They asked where I worked, if I had any bumper stickers, what organizations I belonged to. They were asking what my political affiliation was," she said, sounding remarkably unfazed. "I told them some people had knocked down our John Kerry signs a few years ago."

Investigators suspect Mitzlaff's vehicle might have been the first, albeit unsuccessful, fire set in the series. Subsequent fires have spiraled out east, west and south of her South Tabor ranch house.

"It is completely senseless," said Denise Schmidt, whose husband's year-old Saturn Vue was found burning just after 4 a.m. Wednesday in the 7300 block of Southeast Otty Road in Milwaukie.

Bigger SUVs ignored

If the arsonist or arsonists meant to send an environmental message by targeting SUVs and trucks, the choices are puzzling. In some cases, full-size SUVs nearby were bypassed in favor of compact versions with better fuel efficiency.

While Schmidt stepped over the ashes from the Saturn, a full-size Ford Expedition glinted nearby in the morning sun. Gas mileage: 14 mpg city/17 mpg highway.

Investigators and plainclothes officers were expected to be on the lookout this morning in Southeast.

"We can guess that there will be an increased presence tonight," Portland Fire Bureau spokesman Lt. Allen Oswalt said Wednesday. "The best thing would be to catch someone doing this."

With car burn times measured in seconds -- one fire burned less than 10 minutes -- public vigilance is going to be the best asset in solving the crimes, he added.