BIRMINGHAM, Ala. A 10th church fire in rural Alabama was ruled anarson by investigators yesterday, striking anxiety among members ofBaptist churches around the region.
Unlike the fires that damaged or destroyed nine other Alabamachurches over the past two weeks, the blaze at the Beaverton FreewillBaptist Church in Lamar County on Saturday was set in broad daylight,authorities said.
'I am just sick over this. Just sick,' said Helen Jones, 66. Jonesis a member of Rehobeth Baptist Church, one of five churches thatwere set ablaze in Bibb County on Feb. 3.
Churchgoers there held Sunday services yesterday inside a trailernear the charred rubble.
'I can't believe somebody would burn down God's house,' Jonessaid. 'Why are they trying to hurt us?'
Federal investigators have not determined whether the fire inBeavertown is linked to the nine other church fires, or whether it isthe work of a copycat.
'It's definitely arson,' said Ragan Ingram, a spokesman for thestate fire marshal's office. It was not immediately clear whether thefire was connected to the other blazes that have destroyed or damagednine churches since Feb. 3.
Beaverton is a rural town in northwestern Alabama, near theMississippi line. The other nine churches that burned were all insouthwestern Alabama.
A federal investigator said yesterday that authorities do not havespecific suspects in mind, but that they are seeking two white men intheir 20s or 30s, who have not been identified.
Eric Kehn, a spokesman for the federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearmsand Explosives agency, said the description was based on witnessreports and behavioral profiles.
'They're not youths or teens. It's probably someone in their 20sor 30s. We believe they're pretty much inseparable. They're somethinglike bosom buddies,' he said.
Evidence from one of the earlier fires indicates that theperpetrators may have been briefly trapped inside the building andthat they may have been hurt, said Jim Cavanaugh, regional directorfor Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Investigators have said that they do not have a motive for thestring of fires, but that there is no racial pattern. Five of thechurches had white congregations, and five were made up of blackmembers. All were Baptist, the dominant faith in the region, and mostwere in country settings.
Last week, Governor Bob Riley said the nine earlier church firesappeared to be linked, as investigators checked out witness reportsof two men who had been spotted in a sport utility vehicle near anumber of the fires.
Cristal Oakes, a dispatcher with the Lamar County Sheriff'sOffice, said firefighters had been alerted to smoke from theBeaverton Freewill church at 4:20 p.m. Light snow was falling at thetime.
Jenny Spence, the wife of a local volunteer firefighter, said shehad heard calls over a police scanner for authorities to watch for adark sport utility vehicle that witnesses described.
'They took a big risk,' Spence said, referring to how the attackSaturday had not occurred under cover of darkness. 'There must be acertain amount of evil in someone who would do something like this.We need people's prayers,' she said.
Alabama is predominantly Baptist. The Beaverton Freewill Churchhad a largely white congregation.
The FBI has said it is examining whether the fires could beconsidered hate crimes under the Church Arson Prevention Act. Thatlaw, signed in 1996, makes it a crime to intentionally damage ordestroy houses of worship or to use threats or violence to halt theexercise of religion.
The four church fires that occurred on Feb. 7 took place atchurches off rural roads, about 10 to 20 miles apart. They were in acluster of three counties, about 60 miles from the Bibb County areawhere the other five churches were burned on Feb. 3.
State and federal rewards totaling $10,000 have been offered forinformation leading to arrests in the fires.