A mosque in the south metro was heavily damaged by fire early Monday morning.
Masjid Hamza AI-Mahmood Foundation and Baitul Hikmah Academy is located at 5995 Timber Trail, northeast of downtown Prior Lake and across highway 13 from the east shore of Lower Prior Lake.
The Prior Lake Fire Department was assisted by crews from Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, Savage, Shakopee, Jordan, Elko New Market and Lakeville.
The mosque also serves as a school for about 200 students pre-K through 12th grade.
Investigators continue to comb through the rubble to locate the source of the fire. Prior Lake Fire Chief Rick Steinhaus telling WCCO-TV it's a blow to the community.
"We have a very good relationship with them," says Steinhaus. "We do a lot of community events with them, so we're, as a department, we're sad to see this happen. We're working well with them to figure it all out."
There were no injuries, though battling the blaze in the cold was challenging for firefighters. Multiple departments responded to the blaze, which is under both state and federal investigation.
Students attached to the mosque are attending school online today. Neighbor Dave Larson spoke with WCCO-TV about the fire.
"They're just a wonderful part of our community," says Larson. "They are. You can't help but wonder right now in this political climate and with everything that's going on, that you can't help but wonder if somebody did this. And so that's that's in the back of your mind, and I pray it's not."
A neighbor of the mosque reportedly notified first responders about the fire at 2:22 a.m. Monday. It's not known how the fire started, and no one was inside the building at the time.
The state fire marshal and federal agents from ATF will investigate the fire.
