Fire consumes 2 churches in Texas, where 8 recent church fires have been ruled arson

Fire consumes 2 Texas churches amid spate of arson

TYLER, Texas — State and federal law enforcement agencies were vigorously working Tuesday to try to find out who has been setting fire to churches in eastern Texas.

Fire broke out at two churches about three miles apart Monday night in a rural area northwest of Tyler, which is about 85 miles southeast of Dallas. Investigators have not confirmed them as arson, but they were reported within an hour of one another and eight other churches have been intentionally torched in the state since the start of the year.

“We would just like to find out why this is going on and please stop it,” Smith County Fire Marshal Jim Seaton said.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is leading the investigation into the string of arsons. Agency spokesman Tom Crowley said Tuesday it’s too early to conclude the latest fires were arson.

Nearby fire departments have been on high alert because of the spate of church fires, and firefighters from throughout the area responded quickly to the Monday blazes at the Dover Baptist Church and Clear Spring Missionary Baptist Church, said Smith County Assistant Fire Marshal Oren Hale.

There were no injuries reported in either fire, but the damage to both churches appeared to be extensive, said Hale, who worked at both fire scenes until about 3 a.m. Tuesday.

“They were big ones. They’re not to the ground, but they’ll be total losses,” he said.

Assistant Fire Marshal Connie McCoy-Wasson, who was first on the scene at Clear Spring Missionary Baptist Church, said flames were coming out of the building’s roof when she got there. The back door of the church had been broken, she said.

The church’s pastor, Brandon Owens, said he would somehow hold Sunday services.

“We’ve just got to do what the Lord instilled us to the do,” he said Monday as he surveyed the damage.

Dover Baptist recently took precautions because of so many church fires, trustee Albert Valadez said. The staff barred the church doors and installed “dummy” inoperable video cameras above the main doors, the Tyler Morning Telegram reported Tuesday.

“I can’t comprehend how anyone would do the Lord’s house this way,” Dover Pastor Carl Samples said.

Arson has been confirmed as the cause of seven church fires in eastern Texas since Jan. 1, and in one fire in the central part of the state. The latest confirmed case was a fire Thursday at a church in Wills Point, about 50 miles east of Dallas.

Associated Press Writer John McFarland in Dallas contributed to this report.