Tagged: fire

The only mosque in Joplin, Mo., has burned to the ground.  The cause of the fire is still unknown. 

The loss of property leaves the Islamic community without a place of worship in its most sacred time of the year:  Ramadan.

The imam of the mosque, Dr. Lahmuddin Lahmuiddin, had only  finished leading the special “Taraweeh” night prayers a few hours before he was awakened by a phone call from the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department.  That prayer takes place every night at about 10:00 during the month of Ramadan.

Lahmuddin got in his car and started driving.

During a typical year, Missouri has a spring fire season and fall fire season. Summer is usually a downtime for forest fires. That’s not the case this year.

In June and July alone, there were 50 wildfires that burned more than 4,000 acres in the Mark Twain National Forest. Compare that to an average year, when about 5,000 acres burn over 12 months.

Another fire has been reported at a former city landfill north of Columbia.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that firefighters have been battling another grass fire Wednesday at the former site of the Columbia municipal landfill, which is south of Finger Lakes State Park. The site has burned several times over the past week.

Boone County Fire Protection District Chief Scott Olsen says buried trash at the former landfill has been smoldering and continues to start fires. He says the fires will likely continue until the weather cools.

The FBI announced Monday they were offering a $15,000 reward for information leading to charges in a fire at a Joplin mosque.

The fire was reported July 4 at the Islamic Society of Joplin. No injuries were reported, and firefighters extinguished the blaze on the roof of the center before it caused any interior damage. It was the second fire in two years at the center.