Mormon Temple Fire in Westwood Sparks 'House of Worship' Arson Investigation

Categories: Fires, Religion

mormon temple.jpeg
Is someone trying to burn L.A.'s majestic mormon temple?
A midnight fire on the grounds of the Los Angeles California Temple -- the gargantuan Mormon structure that can be seen from all over the city -- has given the Los Angeles Fire Department's arson investigators their highest-profile job since the Hollywood car-fire debacle.

Awesomely, the department has a "house of worship task force," and they're on the scene this morning to investigate the origins of the blaze, an LAFD spokesman tells Patch. (As is "the standard response for any fire at a religious site.") It began at about 1 a.m. and was extinguished a half-hour later.

The Westwood temple is the second largest...

... in the Mormon Church. It used to hold the No. 1 spot, until Salt Lake City's temple underwent a massive expansion. (And the most gorgeous, at least by Disney princess standards, has to be the one down in San Diego.)

This morning's fire didn't touch the temple itself. City News Service reports that it hit "a roughly 4,000-square-foot building under construction on the temple grounds," which span a full 13 acres.

Still, the fire was a nasty one, and a little too close for comfort:

We've contacted LAFD for updates on the arson investigation.

[@simone_electra / swilson@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

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