The dry, hot winds from the California desert, often referred to as "devil winds," fueled the flames that engulfed Masjid Al-Taqwa on Tuesday night. This mosque is one of the thousands of buildings consumed by the out-of-control fires in Los Angeles this week.
“It is completely gone. There is nothing standing. No pillars. No doors,” said Junaid Aasi, 42, the imam of the mosque. “It is devastating. I was just there for the Friday prayer.”
On its busiest days, the mosque would see up to 200 worshippers, Aasi told The National. Even when the mosque was closed, worshippers could obtain a key from a nearby halal restaurant to access the building for prayer.
“A lot of people feel like the mosque is their home,” said Backer Abu-Jaradeh, a local resident who typically prayed at Masjid Al-Taqwa daily.
After a month of fasting, prayer, and reflection during Ramadan, many members of Al-Taqwa would gather at the mosque to share meals, recalled both Abu-Jaradeh and Aasi. “It was like a big family,” Aasi said.
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While some members had worshipped at Al-Taqwa for over three decades, Aasi noted that the mosque had been in operation since the late 1970s. It was a modest structure formed by merging a retail and office space, known for its friendly and welcoming atmosphere. Efforts to rebuild the mosque are already underway, though it is too early to set a timeline.
Up to 10 regular attendees of the mosque lost their homes to the Eaton Fire, which as of Thursday had burned approximately 5,700 hectares in the shadow of Mount Wilson in the San Gabriel Mountains.
The Eaton Fire and the Pacific Palisades infernos were the largest of the wildfires that swept across the Los Angeles basin this week.
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At least seven people have been confirmed dead in the blazes, which have destroyed more than 10,000 structures from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena.
Many more have been injured, and over 180,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in what is expected to be the most expensive fire disaster in U.S. history
Source: The National