LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- Fire gutted a building being renovated into a school for Muslim students. The cause wasn't immediately known, officials said.
Investigators remained on the scene Thursday sifting through debris at the Islamic Society of Central Kentucky.
No one was in the building during the Wednesday evening fire, said Imam Mahmoud Shalash, spiritual leader of the Islamic Center of Lexington, which owns the building. One firefighter was hit by debris inside the building and hospitalized as a precaution, Fire Battalion Chief Randy Gilliam said.
Gilliam said it was too early to speculate on the cause of the fire. Storms carrying lightning struck the region late Wednesday.
Shalash also declined to guess at the fire's origins.
"I hate to jump to conclusions," the imam said. "I'll let the officials identify this."
A window at the center was broken the morning after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but no other vandalism has happened since then, Shalash said.
The center was being turned into an elementary school scheduled to open early next year, Shalash said.
"We were almost finished," Shalash said.
About 50 Muslim children were expected to enroll at the school, which was to include classrooms, a cafeteria and a library, he said.
The area's Muslim community had raised $150,000 in donations to remodel the building, Shalash said. The building was insured, and local Muslims were already talking about rebuilding, he said.
