(photo credit: Davie Hinshaw)
From The Charlotte Observer:
Charlotte Fire Department is investigating an early morning fire at Briar Creek Road Baptist Church as arson, Senior Fire Investigator David Williams said.
A 911 emergency call received at 12:52 a.m. turned into a third alarm by 1:21 a.m., with a total of 14 engines and 75 firefighters on hand to quell the flames. Williams said it took around an hour to get the fire under control.
...
The pastor at Briar Creek Road Baptist Church, Mannix Kinsey, is African American. The co-pastor is his wife, Rhonda Kinsey. About 100 people, most of them black, attend the church. It also shares the campus with two or three immigrant churches, including one whose members were born in Nepal.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/...
Investigators can't yet say for sure if it was a hate crime, but they have determined it was arson. From WSOC TV:
Charlotte Fire Department investigators did not share a lot of details about why they consider it an arson, but they told Channel 9’s reporter Ken Lemon that they are certain.
http://www.wsoctv.com/...
The good news is that no one was killed (although two firefighters suffered heat-related injuries), and it appears the chapel part of the complex was not harmed.
Cross-posted at byline.com.