SANTA ANA - A fire
Saturday raged for nearly an hour inside one of Orange County’s largest Jewish
temples.
The blaze ignited shortly after 6 a.m. in the kitchen of
Temple Beth Sholom, located at 2625 North Tustin Avenue, according to the OC
Fire Authority.
Firefighters called a second alarm before snuffing the
flames out at 7 a.m.
The incident was determined to be an accidental fire
involving a refrigerator.
The OCFA estimated the blaze caused $200,000 in damage to
the structure and $100,000 worth of damage to property.
According to its records, Temple Beth Sholom got its start
in 1943, making it Orange County’s oldest Jewish synagogue. The temple moved to
its Tustin Avenue structure in 1983, and its main building was remodeled in the
1990s.
In a statement released to the congregation online, the
temple president Lynn Matassarin said they had saved the holy Torah scrolls.
In the meantime, the congregation won’t be able to access
the facilities and all temple events have been canceled or postponed.
Under federal law, the FBI usually investigates fires at
religious establishments. An FBI spokeswoman told City News Service the agency
was looking into the initial report.
No comments:
Post a Comment