THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 29, 1996 TAG: 9606290243
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY DENNIS PATTERSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: GREENSBORO LENGTH: 60 lines
A piece of carpet from a church destroyed by fire Friday was sent to the State Bureau of Investigation to be tested for signs of arson.
Fire destroyed Pleasant Ridge United Church of Christ, including its 129-year-old sanctuary, in rural Guilford County before daybreak Friday.
Agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms joined local authorities and the SBI in investigating the blaze.
Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes said a recent rash of church burnings across the South prompted local officials to call the ATF.
``This is a sign of the times. We're not taking any chances,'' Barnes said. ``We wanted it to be a natural fire, frankly. But if it's not, we want to catch the guy who did it.''
A dog trained to search for signs of arson ``hit on a mat going into the front door,'' Barnes said Friday afternoon. But he added that the dog may simply have found glue or the carpet's backing.
At least 40 fires at predominantly black churches have been reported over the past 18 months across the Southeast. At least six of those fires this year were in North Carolina.
``When my wife came out this morning, the first question she was asked was if this was a white church or a black church,'' the sheriff said. ``Her response was, `It's a community church.'''
Some of the predominantly white congregation's 150 members came to the church north of Greensboro to gaze at the charred timbers of the white frame church.
The only thing salvaged from the sanctuary was the white cross from the steeple.
``It's like a death in the family,'' former deacon Ed White told WSJS radio in Winston-Salem.
Barnes said investigators did not immediately know whether the Pleasant Ridge fire was accidental or arson. He noted that there had been problems recently with an air conditioner in the area where the fire may have started.
Authorities responded to the 4 a.m. blaze after a witness called police, High Point television station WGHP reported. The fire was extinguished by 8 a.m.
The Rev. Phil Norwood said the congregation will meet on the church grounds Sunday.
Norwood said the grandparents of some church members built the original sanctuary with timbers from their own land. The church building also contained a fellowship hall, the pastor's study, choir room, all of which were destroyed.
``Basically, it's just been shock, devastation and great loss,'' he said of the congregation's reaction.
Church member Gloria Barrett, who lives three doors down from the church, said the community atmosphere persuaded her to join the church right away after she and her husband moved to the community from New Jersey 10 years ago.
``It was like one big happy family,'' she said.
The fire was the second church blaze in three days in Guilford County. An electrical fire was reported Wednesday at Calvary Baptist Church in Greensboro. by CNB