DALLAS (AP) _ Investigators have concluded that a seventh east Texas church fire this year was intentionally set.
Tom Crowley — a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — says arson destroyed the sanctuary of the Russell Memorial United Methodist Church in Wills Point. He previously had said arson caused six other east Texas church fires this year — two in Tyler, one in nearby Lindale and three in the Athens area.

In central Texas, ATF agents from Houston concluded that arson was to blame for a fire last month that destroyed the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church in Temple. No injuries have been reported. Crowley says some similarities have been found in the east Texas fires, but also some differences — such as the different times of day the fires were set.