ATF: Houston mosque fire ‘appears suspicious’

A two-alarm fire caused major damage at a mosque in southwest Houston, but no one was injured in the Christmas Day blaze, officials said.

MJ Khan, president of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston, said the center had not received any threats before the fire.

No injuries were reported in the two-alarm fire, drawing 80 firefighters, according to officials and CNN affiliate KTRK. Because the fire occurred on a holiday, investigators said, the center was much less crowded than it normally is.

Mustafaa Carroll, the executive director of the Houston branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair), told ABC13 that the organization hoped it was not arson.

“With God’s grace, no one was hurt and nothing happened”, Momin said. Smoke damage was reported at the pharmacy next door. Dial was also charged with a single misdemeanor count of committing a hate crime. That rhetoric, they say, has increased dramatically after a husband and wife inspired by Islamic extremists killed 14 people at a holiday party in San Bernardino, Calif., earlier this month. “We revere profit Jesus these things for us are paramount”, Carroll told the reporter.

As mentioned, Special Agent Nicole Strong with the A.T.F. did confirm that the fire in Houston appeared suspicious and had multiple points of origin.

Officials say it appears it had “multiple points of origin”. Shauna Dunlap, a spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, reportedly stated that Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel is aware of the fire but not now on the scene.