CARY, NC (WNCN) – A fire broke out at a mosque in Cary on Friday morning and it’s believed to be suspicious, according to mosque officials.
Cary police said firefighters responded to a fire at a mosque located at 1155 W. Chatham St. The Islamic Center of Cary is listed as being located at that address.
According to Raleigh-Wake 911 officials, Cary EMS responded to the scene, but there are no reports of injuries at this time.
Town of Cary officials said the call came in at 7:55 a.m. The Islamic Center of Cary is currently under construction and is across the street from the Islamic Association of Cary mosque. The mosque will be one of the largest in the state when it’s completed.
The fire was extinguished by 9 a.m., town officials said.
Shakil Ahmed, president of the Islamic Association of Cary, told Nexstar affiliate CBS 17 that workers came to the building around 7:30 a.m. and noticed smoke. They also observed that a window was broken.
Ahmed said when they left the building Thursday night, everything was fine.
The fire is under investigation but, according to Ahmed, it is believed to be suspicious.
“So, we are concerned, and people in the Islamic Association should be concerned, and we were on surveillance. So, thank God there’s no body damage, anything else,” he said.
Ahmed said he expected the mosque to be completed by the summer of 2019, but the fire will likely set them back by about six months.
Investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are also on scene at the mosque.
A GoFundMe has been created to raise money for the organization.
