By Alabama Public Radio
Panola, AL – A spokesman for the Alabama Insurance Department now says a fourth Baptist church was damaged by fire Tuesday.
Ragan Ingram says the Gallilee Baptist church in the Panola community in Sumter Country also suffered fire damage. Three other churches - Dancy First Baptist Church near Aliceville, Spring Valley Baptist Church near Emelle and Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church near Boligee - also were burned.
Ingram says the Gallilee and Morning Star churches were burned to the ground. The Spring Valley and Dancy First Baptist churches were damaged. He says the fires will be investigated as suspected arsons.
Other information about the churches or precisely when the fires were reported is not immediately available. The fires come only four days after three rural Baptist churches were destroyed in flames and two others were damaged in rural Bibb County. A team of state and federal investigators has been dispatched to the three counties.