English
Korean
Spanish
TYLER?Federal authorities have released descriptions of three “individuals of interest” in nine confirmed church arsons across East Texas since Jan. 1. In all, 11 church fires have occurred in the region this year.
Composite sketches of three men were posted at the website of television station KLTV in Tyler http://www.kltv.com/global/story.asp?s=11976780.
Two Baptist churches, less than two miles apart, were burned beyond repair on Feb. 8 despite the response from four volunteer fire departments.
Investigators from the Smith County Fire Marshal’s office and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) were investigating the fires at Dover Baptist Church and Clear Springs Missionary Baptist Church in Smith County.
Federal investigators upped the reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect to $25,000 from an earlier figure of $10,000, ATF special agent Tom Crowley said.
Mary Thompson, administrative assistant to Smith County Fire Marshall Jim Seaton, said the first fire was reported at 8:33 p.m. by a resident who lives across the street from Dover Baptist Church, near Tyler. About an hour later the fire at Clear Springs Missionary Baptist Church was reported.
Volunteer firefighters from stations in Chapel Hill, Dixie, Lindale, and Red Spring responded to the calls. Due to the circumstances surrounding the other fires, Thompson said it is now standard procedure for representatives from ATF and the fire marshal’s office to respond to church fires.
“That’s just a given,” she said.
Crowley, based in the ATF’s Dallas office, said the latest fires are possibly associated with a string of church blazes set since Jan. 1. There have been seven other confirmed arsons?three in Athens, two in Tyler, one in Lindale, and one in Wills Point. Each of the fires was started from inside the churches and representatives from some of the churches reported items were stolen prior to the buildings being set on fire.
An arsonist’s attack on a church in the central Texas city of Temple is being investigated as well. Crowley said the ATF office in Houston is investigating that blaze and the two agencies are conferring to determine whether or not the torchings are related.
Fires in Canton and Martin’s Mill are also under investigation.
The ATF is directing the multi-county investigation and is following up on a number of leads.
Anyone with information for investigators related to the church arsons is asked to call 903-675-0061 or 903-675-0062 or 1-888-ATF-FIRE.
?With reporting by Bonnie Pritchett and Jerry Pierce of the Southern Baptist Texan.
