Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, September 5, 1994                   TAG: 9409060063
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

2ND CHURCH BURNS; ARSON SUSPECTED

It's the second suspicious church fire in the area in recent weeks, and officials believe it may be associated with drug activity.

According to a news release from the Henry County Sheriff's Office, the fire at the Mission Church at Virginia 610 and Virginia 791 in Axton was called in at 4:20 a.m. The church was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, but the fire was under control within 90 minutes, the release said.

An investigation of the scene by T.W. Mills of the Sheriff's Office and Fire Marshal Steve Eanes indicated that someone apparently had entered the small church and started the fire with a flammable liquid, according to the release.

Sheriff's Capt. Wayne Dodson said St. John's Baptist Church, less than a mile down the road, burned in the early morning hours a few weeks ago. That fire also was started with a flammable liquid, according to Dodson.

"It looks like they were related," he said.

Dodson said there was a lot of drug activity in the area a few months ago, and the fires may be associated with it.