Montgomery, USA - Fires damaged three more rural Baptist churches in Alabama following rash of suspected arsons that burned five churches south of Birmingham last week, a state official said Tuesday.
Ragan Ingram, a spokesman for the state insurance agency that oversees fire investigations, said the fires reported Tuesday were at Dancy First Baptist Church near Aliceville, Spring Valley Baptist Church near Emelle, and Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church near Boligee.
He said the extent of damage was not immediately known and it wasn't immediately clear when the three churches burned. State and federal fire investigators were sent to the scenes, he said.
"Obviously we're going to investigate these as suspected arsons," Ingram said.
Early Friday, three rural Baptist churches were destroyed and two others were damaged in rural Bibb County, about 25 miles south of Birmingham.
The three fires that were reported Tuesday were in three sparsely populated counties in west Alabama near the Mississippi line.
Ingram said that in the past five years there have been 58 church fires in Alabama, 19 of those ruled arsons.
Agents investigating the Bibb County fire said Tuesday they were looking for a dark-colored sport-utility vehicle in connection with the blazes.
Members of Old Union Baptist Church in Brierfield told The Associated Press in interviews that they saw a dark Nissan Pathfinder near the building as they arrived to put out a fire shortly after 4 a.m. Friday.
The state fire marshal's office, meanwhile, said a fire Thursday afternoon at a church in rural Chilton County was accidental and unrelated to the others.