Fire crews in South Carolina are battling a fire at a predominantly black church, the latest in a spate of blazes in the wake of the shooting of nine black churchgoers in Charleston two weeks ago.

No injuries have been reported in the fire at Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Greeleyville, about 65 miles (104km) from Charleston, and Clarendon County fire department said its officers had brought the blaze under control.

The cause of the fire is not yet known, and there have been reports of storms and lightning in the area earlier in the evening.

But since a young white man shot nine black people in the Emanuel AME church on 17 June, at least six predominantly African American churches in the south have been set ablaze. The fire at Mount Zion brings that tally to at least seven.

CCFD on scene mutual aide to Williamsburg County for working fire at Mt. Zion AME Church. Fire now under control. pic.twitter.com/Wt13RLGQDo — Clarendon County FD (@clarendonfire) July 1, 2015

Mark Keel, chief of South Carolina law enforcement division, said investigators would be on the scene first thing Wednesday morning.

“We do know they apparently had some strong storms,” Keel said. “Talked to a guy who said they had a lot of lightning down there tonight. I don’t know whether that had anything to do with it at all.”

South Carolina newspaper the Post and Courier reported that Mount Zion AME was burned to the ground in a Ku Klux Klan attack in 1995. Two KKK members pleaded guilty to starting the fire, as well as a second at another predominantly black church. They were each sentenced to nearly two decades in prison.

President Bill Clinton spoke at Mount Zion AME in 1996, telling churchgoers: “Our hearts must be purged of any temptation to go back to those times of division that cost us so dearly, especially here in the southern part of our country.”

Williamsburg County councilman Eddie Woods Jr. said of Tuesday night’s blaze: “That was a tough thing to see … It is hurting those people again.

“But we’re going to rebuild. If this was someone, they need to know that hate won’t stop us again.”

Other southern churches to have been hit in the last two weeks include:

College Hill Seventh Day Adventist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, which caught fire on 22 June. The fire department said the cause of the fire was deliberate.

God’s Power Church of Christ in Macon, Georgia, which was set alight on 23 June. Investigators are treating it as arson.

Briar Creek Road Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, which was completely destroyed on 24 June in an incident fire investigators are treating as arson.



Glover Grove Baptist Church in Warrenville, South Carolina, which was set ablaze on 26 June. Investigators say the cause is so far “undetermined”.

The Greater Miracle Apostolic Holiness Church in Tallahassee, Florida, also burned to the ground last week, but fire officials said the cause was thought to have been an electrical fault.

Another fire, at Fruitland Presbyterian Church in Gibson County, Tennessee, on 24 June, may have been caused by a lightning strike, but an investigation is ongoing.

Tuesday evening also saw the last of the services for the nine victims of the Charleston shooting, as tributes were paid to longtime pastor Daniel L Simmons Sr.

The three-hour service for Simmons drew a large crowd to Greater St Luke AME Church in Charleston.