Mt. Zion AME church in Greeleyville burns

Firefighters from Williamsburg and Clarendon Counties were called in Tuesday night to battle a blaze at Mount Zion AME church near Greeleyville.

The State Law Enforcement Division reportedly dispatched agents to the scene.

SLED chief Mark Keel told The (Charleston) Post and Courier that federal authorities have been informed of the fire at 564 MacKay Road near Greeleyville.

This is the same church that was burned to the ground in 1995 by the KKK. The church was featured in an article last week in the LA Times about the history of violence against African-American churches in the South.

Officials are not discounting the possibility that the fire was touched off by a lightning strike. Severe weather was in the area around the time the fire started.

The number of church fires in the South since the deadly June 17 attack on the Emanuel AME church in Charleston is a matter of concern, however, Keel said.

The NAACP warned black churches Tuesday to take “necessary precautions” as authorities in Southern states investigate whether several church fires over the last week are arsons.

Federal authorities said while they are investigating recent fires at predominantly black churches, the blazes do not appear to be related, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

A federal law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity told the Associated Press a Friday fire at a church in South Carolina did not appear to have been intentionally set. The official had direct knowledge of the investigations but spoke on condition of anonymity Monday because the official was not authorized to discuss them publicly.

The official said another fire Wednesday at a Charlotte church appeared to have been set by vandals, and investigators found no graffiti or other evidence that it was racially motivated.

In Georgia, FBI Special Agent in Charge Britt Johnson said Monday that authorities were looking into whether a June 23 fire could be a hate crime, which is common practice for fires at houses of worship.

“Opening a preliminary inquiry doesn’t suggest that a hate crime has occurred, but rather ensures that it is getting additional scrutiny for hate crime potential,” Johnson said in a statement.

Another fire was reported at the College Hill Seventh Day Adventist church in Knoxville, Tenn., a predominantly black congregation. Knoxville Police spokesman Darrell DeBusk had said previously that the fire was not being investigated as a hate crime. Authorities have said bales of hay outside the church were set on fire, and a church van was damaged in the blaze.

Federal investigators are tracking the Knoxville blaze and several others in an arson database to determine whether there are any trends or similarities, but none of the fires appear to be related, said Michael Knight, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Tennessee.

Associated Press contributed to this report

This story was originally published June 30, 2015 at 10:50 PM with the headline "Mt. Zion AME church in Greeleyville burns."