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| An overnight fire significantly damaged a Sikh church in west Knoxville Friday. (Photo: Knoxville Fire Department) |
March 14, 2014: (WBIR-West Knoxville) Knoxville fire investigators' preliminary reports show the blaze at a Sikh temple Friday morning was accidental in nature.
The fire broke out at the Sikh Sangat on 704 Washburn Road just after midnight early Friday morning. No one was injured, but the building was badly damaged.
The fire started near the part of the gurdwara, a Sikh temple, that was used for storage. Investigators don't know at the time what started the fire.
"We put in a lot of time and effort into building this gurdwara," member Rajive Dhingra said Friday. "We are a resilient community, and we know we can do it. We're just going to rebuild. And we'll get it to this shape like before."
Web extra: Witness video of Sikh temple fire
Members said about fifty people attended services there regularly. They will not have their Sunday services, and plan to release further plans for future services soon.
Neighbors said flames shot into the night sky, several feet from the roof of the gurdwara.
"Just a matter of minutes. First I saw smoke, then I saw fire coming up from the northeast corner of the building. Then 5-8 minutes, the whole building was involved," neighbor Harold Pate said.
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| 10News was inside the Sikh Sangat in 2012. (Photo: WBIR) |
According to the website, Sikhs.org, the religion was founded over 500 years ago in India. The Sikh religion now has a following of over 20 million people worldwide. Sikhism preaches a message of devotion and remembrance of God at all times, truthful living, equality of mankind, social justice and denounces superstitions and blind rituals.
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| An overnight fire significantly damaged a Sikh church in west Knoxville Friday.(Photo: WBIR) |