Mosque, school in Prior Lake a complete loss after overnight fire, facility manager says
A building housing a mosque and school in the Twin Cities is a complete loss after an overnight fire, the facility manager said.
Crews were battling the fire when a WCCO photographer arrived at Baitul Hikmah Academy in Prior Lake around 2:30 a.m.
According to the Prior Lake Fire Department, no one was inside the building at the time and no firefighters or civilians were injured.
The State Fire Marshal and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating because the fire occurred at a religious institution. The cause is not yet known.
The fire department said the roof collapsed, and the facility's manager said the building is flooded.
One neighbor said the commotion from the fire woke her up.
"We had no idea, no idea what was going on," neighbor Nancy Ufken said. "Then, when we started watching over by the mosque, we could start seeing smoke. And we did see some flames, but not until quite a bit later."
The private Muslim school is K-12 and serves about 200 students. Children from across the south metro attend it, neighbors said.
Baitul Hikmah has two other campuses. All three student bodies will be learning remotely on Monday.
Seven fire departments responded to the fire.