It's actually not a bad strategy, if they really plan to fight an all-out war, non-ironic boogaloo style. In an insurgent vs insurgent battle, each side has to retreat and regroup into their stronghold. The commies hold the cities; burning down the countryside your enemy lives in is crude but effective, as long as you aren't trying to conquer territory.
But if they think they're actually prepping the revolution instead of LARPing, they're more insane than anything we've said about them.
I think it's more likely that some splinter group decided to start fires because the targeted chaos wasn't working, so they're aiming for general chaos. At its most big brained, maybe it's to mess with the state resources, like diverting the state cops or trying to pressure the Governor out of office.