Fire breaks out at Hindu Society of Alberta in north Edmonton

A fire broke out early Thursday morning at a building run by the Hindu Society of Alberta.

Firefighters were called to a Hindu temple in north Edmonton just after 3:30 a.m.

According to Edmonton Fire Rescue Services, no one was injured, and six crews responded to the fire.

“We are still recovering from the shock we have,” said Rajeev Arora, president of Hindu Society of Alberta.”We have been here since 5 am, working with the fire department and providing them with all the information that they need to investigate the cause and we are still recovering from the shock we have.”

One of the religious leaders of the temple says the space is the home for many  Hindu Edmontonians and despite the loss, he believes the community will come out stronger.

“We are confident that everything will be in the right place, it’s just only a matter of time,” said Shiv Shankar Dwivedi, pandit since 1989.

The temple serves 300 people on Sundays and up to 700 during festivals, the board members are now going to discuss where they will continue their service and activities.

“We do lots of community service and we will miss that, so the next few months it will take to get back,” said Indira Vishnu, vp administration at Hindu Society of Alberta.

The fire was called under control at 6:33 a.m., but as of 9:15 a.m., crews had not called out the fire yet.

EFRS said EMS, ATCO, and EPCOR were all on scene.

The cause of the fire is not yet known and is under investigation.