NAMES IN THE NEWS : Sandi Patti Jolted by Arsonist

Gospel singer Sandi Patti says she felt victimized by the arson attack that destroyed her office.

The anonymous caller told the Anderson Herald Bulletin her group started the blaze because Patti had “put herself on the pedestal of God.”

“It’s one of the most paralyzing feelings I have ever felt in my life,” Patti said outside her charred office Thursday, two days after the fire.

“There’s a tendency to just kind of sit at home and close the door and think ‘I will never be able to walk outside again.’ I don’t want to feel like that the rest of my life,” she said.

A group, calling itself the “Equal Religious Coalition,” claimed responsibility for the fire. Anderson police said they had never heard of the group but were taking the claim seriously.

An unidentified woman said the fire was set in the office “in objection to Mrs. Patti’s blatancy to continue to put herself on the pedestal of God.”

Patti, her husband, John Helverling, and their four children are getting protection from off-duty officers. The office, operated by Helverling, handles mail distribution of Patti’s records, tapes and T-shirts, but master recordings of Patti’s albums survived in a vault.