84% of Church Fires Are Not Arson

As many as 84 percent of church fires across the country are not intentionally set, according to data on such events. Between 2007 and 2011, about 31 congregations burned weekly, according to an estimate by the National Fire Protection Association. Of those, about five per week were arsons, but even fewer of them were determined to be hate crimes. The NFPA’s statistics don’t break out how many fires occurred at black and white congregations.