Hellsbells
February 10th, 2010, 03:23 PM
(CNN) -- Rousted out of bed by an early morning phone call, Kay Crosby stood in the rain and watched her church burn.
"We had choir practice Wednesday night, and then Thursday morning, it's gone," she said. "Not even 12 hours later."
Despite the efforts of firefighters from Crosby's town of Wills Point, Texas, and beyond, Russell Memorial United Methodist Church was a total loss.
The blaze was one in a string of 11 fires in east Texas churches this year. Eight have been ruled arson, leaving residents and churches on edge as authorities work to find the person -- or persons -- responsible.
There is no clear theme linking the fires, which have struck various church denominations -- Methodist, Baptist, Church of Christ Scientist -- on different days of the week and at different times of the day, he said. And while the churches are in small towns -- such as Wills Point, which has a population of about 3,800 people -- not all the fires were in remote locations, Crowley said.
Authorities believe one person, or perhaps a group of people, are responsible. Investigators have "people we're looking at" from tips called in, but "nothing specific yet," he said.
"I think maybe I would characterize the mood of our people as perplexed," said Randy Daniels, mayor of Athens, Texas, a town of about 12,000 that has seen three of the church fires. "... I think most people would just wonder who could be doing this or even why. Most people consider it just incomprehensible and unconscionable that somebody could and would be doing this."
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/02/10/texas.church.fires/index.html
"We had choir practice Wednesday night, and then Thursday morning, it's gone," she said. "Not even 12 hours later."
Despite the efforts of firefighters from Crosby's town of Wills Point, Texas, and beyond, Russell Memorial United Methodist Church was a total loss.
The blaze was one in a string of 11 fires in east Texas churches this year. Eight have been ruled arson, leaving residents and churches on edge as authorities work to find the person -- or persons -- responsible.
There is no clear theme linking the fires, which have struck various church denominations -- Methodist, Baptist, Church of Christ Scientist -- on different days of the week and at different times of the day, he said. And while the churches are in small towns -- such as Wills Point, which has a population of about 3,800 people -- not all the fires were in remote locations, Crowley said.
Authorities believe one person, or perhaps a group of people, are responsible. Investigators have "people we're looking at" from tips called in, but "nothing specific yet," he said.
"I think maybe I would characterize the mood of our people as perplexed," said Randy Daniels, mayor of Athens, Texas, a town of about 12,000 that has seen three of the church fires. "... I think most people would just wonder who could be doing this or even why. Most people consider it just incomprehensible and unconscionable that somebody could and would be doing this."
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/02/10/texas.church.fires/index.html