Fire at future mosque site in Daytona Beach
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A fire is being investigated at a vacant YMCA, soon-to-be mosque, in Daytona Beach.
Volusia County Fire Rescue and Ormond Beach Fire Rescue responded to the now shutdown YMCA site on Derbyshire Road just before 4 p.m.
The old YMCA site is now owned by the Islamic Center of Daytona Beach, which purchased the building for the site of a future mosque.
Investigators have not said whether they're investigating the fire as a hate crime, but a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relation, Rasha Mubarak, sent Fox 35 this statement:
"With the heightened anti-Islamic rhetoric and Islamophobic hate crimes on the rise, CAIR FL is taking this incident very seriously. We are in the process of reaching out to the mosque leaders and are waiting for the results of this investigation."