Radical Environmental Group Claims Responsibility for San Diego Fire

Saying it was trying to send a message about “rampant urban development,” the Earth Liberation Front has claimed responsibility for a $50 million fire that destroyed an apartment complex in San Diego two weeks ago. No one was injured in the fire. The destruction of the apartment complex, which was being built on the city’s rapidly growing northern boundary, marks the costliest attack ever by ELF, an underground organization that since 1996 has been deliberately setting fire to commercial developments that threaten the environment. A banner left at the scene of the Aug. 3 San Diego arson read, “If you build it, we will burn it,” with the initials E.L.F.