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August 17, 2006
US: Mosque Fire Is "Not Suspicious"
Earlier today, several items on newsfeeds appeared, describing a fire which happened at a mosque in El Cajon, near San Diego, California. The fire broke out this morning long before dawn. It was placed under control by firefighters by 3,30 am local time. The news was carried by Associated Press by Kesq.com and Mercury News, and also by Signs on San Diego.
The Kurdish Community Islamic Center on Magnolia Avenue was gutted in the fire, with an estimated $2 million in damage caused. No-one was hurt in the blaze.
But before people jump to conclusions and assume it was an arson attack related to Islamophobia, a late edition of the Union Tribune in Signs on San Diego reports that the building had not been intentionally set on fire.
El Cajon City fire spokeswoman Monica Zech said this afternoon that though investigators still needed to identify the exact cause of the blaze, there was no evidence of arson or hate crime. The fire is thought to have started on the first floor (ground floor) of the 3 storey building.
She said that firefighters from El Cajon, East County, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, Santee, San Miguel and San Diego arrived to put out the fire when: "Just as they arrived, flames shot through roof."
Four hours after the blaze was extinguished, firefighters were still mopping up. The second storey had collapsed, and the south side of the mosque and community center, which caters to the religious needs of Kurdish refugees and citizens, was considered too unstable to enter.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at August 17, 2006 7:28 PM
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