Church Fires
We began this day by thinking there was a major break in the investigation of those ten church fires in Alabama. I got a call from John about 7:15 this morning saying there were reports of a black SUV wrecking after a high speed chase near a church in Choctaw County. For the obvious reasons, we quickly dispatched Chris and photographer Christian Monsour down there to check it out.
Unfortunately, it turned out to be almost all rumor. There was a report of a suspicious vehicle near a church in Choctaw County around daybreak, but sheriff's deputies never saw it. Later that morning, there was a car accident there. Several people apparently listening to scanner traffic put two and two together and came up with six, and the rumors started. We're reporting on it tonight, just because of the stir it caused, not just in Choctaw County, but all over the twin states.
We've been following these fire stories very closely over the last week and a half for a number of reasons: chief among them, the fact that four of them happened right here in our back yard. We've given them especially big play for a number of other reasons:
1. They're part of a big statewide trend that is getting a lot of national attention.
2. Serial arsonists, while fairly common, are not that common at all where churches are specific targets, or where so many of them happen in so short a time.
3. Churches play such an integral role in the lives of so many people in our area that it is the kind of story that affects many, many people. I know I had several people at my own church wanting to talk about the fires Sunday.
4. The mystery of the situation also plays a big part. Someone is going through some major planning before hitting these churches. Most crimes are spur of the moment, with very little planning, so these are especially unusual. Watching investigators try to put the pieces together is intriguing.
On a personal note, I also have to say that these fires have impacted me too, for a couple of reasons. I grew up in a small country church like these churches are. My grandad was the pastor at the Steam Mill Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Sebastopol, Mississippi, for almost 40 years. And my father-in-law is currently a pastor at one of these small country churches, the Oakes Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Vernon, Alabama. That church is in Lamar County, the county where the last fire happened.
Anyway, we'll keep watching these fires, and the latest on the investigation into them, very closely. Investigators seem pretty confident they'll be able to track down the arsonists, so we'll wait and see.
Unfortunately, it turned out to be almost all rumor. There was a report of a suspicious vehicle near a church in Choctaw County around daybreak, but sheriff's deputies never saw it. Later that morning, there was a car accident there. Several people apparently listening to scanner traffic put two and two together and came up with six, and the rumors started. We're reporting on it tonight, just because of the stir it caused, not just in Choctaw County, but all over the twin states.
We've been following these fire stories very closely over the last week and a half for a number of reasons: chief among them, the fact that four of them happened right here in our back yard. We've given them especially big play for a number of other reasons:
1. They're part of a big statewide trend that is getting a lot of national attention.
2. Serial arsonists, while fairly common, are not that common at all where churches are specific targets, or where so many of them happen in so short a time.
3. Churches play such an integral role in the lives of so many people in our area that it is the kind of story that affects many, many people. I know I had several people at my own church wanting to talk about the fires Sunday.
4. The mystery of the situation also plays a big part. Someone is going through some major planning before hitting these churches. Most crimes are spur of the moment, with very little planning, so these are especially unusual. Watching investigators try to put the pieces together is intriguing.
On a personal note, I also have to say that these fires have impacted me too, for a couple of reasons. I grew up in a small country church like these churches are. My grandad was the pastor at the Steam Mill Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Sebastopol, Mississippi, for almost 40 years. And my father-in-law is currently a pastor at one of these small country churches, the Oakes Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Vernon, Alabama. That church is in Lamar County, the county where the last fire happened.
Anyway, we'll keep watching these fires, and the latest on the investigation into them, very closely. Investigators seem pretty confident they'll be able to track down the arsonists, so we'll wait and see.
posted by Wade Phillips at 3:21 PM
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