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Latest East Texas Church Fires Bring Count To 10

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Feb 9, 2010 6:54 am US/Central

Latest East Texas Church Fires Bring Count To 10

Reporting
Robbie Owens
TYLER (CBS 11 News/AP) ― Two more east Texas churches are in ruins after a string of suspicious fires. This now makes 10 churches that have burned in the area since the beginning of the year, all in or around Tyler, Athens, Lindale and Wills Point.

Investigators have not yet said that the fires are linked, but they do know that this rash of church fires is no coincidence. Seven of the eight fires that had been reported before Monday night have already been blamed on arson.

Fire struck two more churches Monday night near Tyler. Smoke and heavy flames were spotted at about 9:00 p.m. coming from the rear of the Dover Baptist Church in Lindale. Then, shortly thereafter, a Smith County sheriff's dispatcher said that fire burned at the Clear Springs Missionary Baptist Church, located about three miles west of the first blaze.

Multiple fire departments worked late into the night to extinguish the flames. No injuries were reported.

Pastor Carl Samples of Dover Baptist Church surveyed the damage Monday night. "I can't comprehend how anyone would do the Lord's house this way," he said.

Federal officials are now involved in the investigation, but authorities have not determined that the fires are connected. Smith County Fire Marshal Jim Seaton told KLTV-TV, "We would just like to find out why this is going on and please stop it."

(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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