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The House Of Fire is Earth Films’ feature-length documentary about the Earth Liberation Front, the underground eco-sabotage group best known for torching the Vail Ski Area in October of 1998. The film is currently in post-production, with an expected completion date sometime in 2009.
Starting in 1996, with the torching of the Detroit Ranger District office in Detroit, Oregon, the group was involved in a campaign of arson across the West that ultimately totaled tens of millions of dollars in damage. The group targeted an SUV dealership, a horse-slaughter plant, timber company offices, a genetically-modified-tree farm, Bureau of Land Management wild-horse corrals, logging trucks, a meat company and more. They also sabotaged logging machinery, damaged genetically-modified crops and toppled a high-tension electrical tower.
By 2001, the group, always loose-knit at best, had mostly disbanded and ceased its activity. However, the FBI continued its investigation and by 2004 had pressured one of the group’s founders and most militant members into becoming an informant. In exchange for leniency in sentencing, he not only had to reveal all he knew about the ELF, but had to wear a hidden recorder and engage his former comrades in incriminating conversations. The first of many arrests took place in December 2005 and most of the arsonists are now serving prison terms ranging from 3-15 years. Four more are fugitives and one committed suicide in his cell.
The House Of Fire follows the story of Jake Ferguson, who initiated the ELF’s eco-arson and sabotage campaign and ultimately cooperated with the FBI. It also includes the story of Chelsea Gerlach, another of the saboteurs and one of the participants in the Vail arson. Retired Special Agent John Ferreira, lead Agent in Backfire, gives an extensive view inside the FBI’s nearly decade-long pursuit of the ELF.
Sneak preview clip of the week. (Previous clips archived under video clips page.)
FBI Special Agent (Retired) John Ferreira, lead Agent in Operation Backfire. John worked on the case nearly 10 years. Here he speaks briefly about the Earth Liberation Front from the former site of Joe Romania Chevrolet in Eugene, Oregon, where 30 SUVs were torched by the ELF on March 30, 2001, doing $1 million in damage. Through an ironic twist, this dramatic arson eventually became a turning point in the case. Want to know all the details of how that happened? Check out our post on Audience Supported Filmmaking to learn why it’s cool to get involved and help us finish the film.