MURRAY — A weekend fire at an LDS meetinghouse that caused minimal damage was the result of arson, investigators said. Now they are trying to determine whether the fire was a hate crime.
Investigators planned to conduct more interviews today in connection with the Sunday night fire.
The fire at the church, 469 W. Germania (5150 South), caused less than $5,000 damage. But the people responsible appeared to have larger intentions.
"They had enough product there to start a big fire," said Murray fire marshal Phil Roberts.
Witnesses reported seeing several teenagers on the north end of the church between 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. A few minutes after the juveniles left, smoke was seen coming from the church, Roberts said.
The fire was set under a window. The stone exterior did not catch fire. Damage was limited to a window that will need to be replaced, Roberts said. Most of the other damage costs will be in cleanup, he said.
Several items, including an accelerant, were left at the scene. Roberts did not want to release Monday exactly what was found but noted arson was the obvious intention.
Investigators had conducted several interviews by Monday morning and had a fairly good idea of who they were looking for, Roberts said. Two to three boys, ages 14 to 16, were believed to be the alleged arsonists, he said.
As of this morning, a motive for the fire had not been determined.
"Once we find out who we're dealing with and what their intentions were, that's when we'll determine if it's a hate crime," Roberts said.
He noted that because of what was found at the scene, the possibility of a hate crime hasn't been completely ruled out. Roberts noted however that he was "leaning toward a stupid juvenile act" as the intention. It was probably more a crime of opportunity than anything else, he said.
Because of LDS general conference, no one was in the church at the time of the fire. The blaze was extinguished in less than five minutes.
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