Hawzah News Agency (Melbourne, Australia) - Fifty firefighters have fought a massive blaze at a Melbourne Islamic Community Centre for nearly an hour before managing to bring it under control.

Early morning on Sunday, December ۱۱, several fire crews responded to a large fire at the centre on Lowson Street in Fawkner and required an aerial hose to extinguish the blaze.

During the fire asbestos was found in the building and firefighters had to be decontaminated as the emerged from the fighting the flames. It is not known if the fire was deliberately lit.

An arson chemist has been called in to investigate the cause of the fire, which started at the centre on Lowson Street, Fawkner, about 2.30am. A crime scene has been established.

Metropolitan Fire Brigade Commander Andrew Dixon told: “Responding crews could see the fire from Thomastown, such was the intensity of the fire.

“The centre itself is a place of gathering for the local Islamic community.”

On the side of the building, someone had written “The Islamic State” in black spray paint. It is not clear when the graffiti occurred or if it is linked to the fire.

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