The temple of the Oakland Cambodian Buddhist Society on E. 10th Street in Oakland, California, has burned down, most likely due to the use of between 100 and 1000 candles left lit overnight as part of a ceremony.
As NBC Bay Area reports, “A visibly shaken monk [said] that the temple’s members were participating in some sort of celebration on Monday night and a candle possibly started the blaze, which was not officially confirmed by the fire department.”
Via the Facebook page of the Oakland Cambodian Buddhist Society.
All that remains intact of the temple is its sign.
A fund has been set up to support the temple and the family that lived in the neighboring house, which also burnt down:
Click here to support Oakland Buddhist Temple & Neighbor by Paulina Tong
Early Tuesday morning at around 2am my childhood Cambodian Buddhist temple caught on fire, which eventually spread to my home next door. My family has lost almost everything due to the fire and the temple itself is no longer there. This is a campaign to help raise money for my family and the temp…
Concerned readers might also want to follow the Oakland Cambodian Buddhist Society on Facebook for other updates.
