ATLANTA (AP) _ Georgia’s top fire official is urging churches to bolster security after two metro Atlanta churches were set ablaze.
Georgia Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner John Oxendine says officials are investigating whether the arsons are connected.
Fire consumed the Calvary Church in Morrow when it was set ablaze Sunday. Investigators say they also found evidence of arson at a United Methodist Church in East Point which was set on fire Nov. 6.
Oxendine urged neighborhoods to start church watches to monitor the buildings on days without services. He said church fires are particularly devastating to areas “where churches are the social as well as spiritual heart of the community.”