Obviously, people are on edge after the Charleston shooting. Still, it’s not clear if there really has been an upswing in Church fires recently or if it’s just the media paying closer attention because of recent events.

vox.com
(I know, VOX. But still important to remember).

According to the National Fire Protection Association (via the Los Angeles Times’s Matt Pearce), firefighters responded to an average of 1,600 fires at churches a year from 2007 to 2011. That comes out to an average of 31 fires a week.

Sixteen percent of fires at churches and funeral homes (the latter is much less common) were intentionally set. That’s an average of five intentional fires a week, or 256 a year — causing an average of three civilian injuries annually.