FORREST COUNTY, MS (WDAM) An early-morning fire gutted a three-story dormitory building in Forrest County once used to house troubled girls.

 

The facility once known as Bethesda Home for Girls was recently leased by Ezekiel house ministries, which operates a transition house on Bouie Street. Organizers were planning on opening the old Bethesda location in January under a new name - Reclamation Ranch. 

  

The facility, which included three buildings on the grounds including the dorm, was to open as drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility. The home was founded in the 1970s by evangelist Lester Roloff as a home for troubled and unwed girls. 

It changed hands several times before closing in the late 1980s

Officials with Ezekiel Ministries say they suspect arson since there was no power hooked up to the building.

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