Fire at Mandaean Center in Ferndale Wednesday Morning – updated

Fire at Mandaean Center in Ferndale Wednesday Morning – updated
(Crystal A. Proxmire, July 30, 2014)
UPDATE:  As of 1:30pm Thursday the cause of the fire is still under investigation per the Fire Marshal.
Hilton Road in Ferndale is blocked off approximately between 8 Mile and 9 Mile due to a fire at The Mandean Association of Michigan center located at 800 Hilton, which is the corner of Hilton and Channing.
Fire Marshal Brian Batten was joined by a fire investigator from Oakland County Sheriff’s Department. Batten said that they are currently investigating to look at any accidental causes. The fire started in the back of the building, causing major damage to the kitchen area, with smoke damage through the building.
Dispatch got the call at 8:33am from a nearby business owner who reported the fire. The building was unoccupied at the time and there are no injuries.
“We have to maintain the integrity of the scene while we do the investigation, but we did retrieve some of their Holy books that had not been damaged by the fire,” Batten said. “There is an office area of the building and fortunately that was not very damaged so their records and important documents are safe.”
The cause is still under investigation, but this story will be updated when we have more information.
Hilton Road is now back open to traffic.
According to Arabamerica.com:
“The Mandaean Association of Michigan is primarily made up of immigrants from Iraq who immigrated to the greater Detroit area.
Mandaeism or Mandaeanism is a monotheistic religion with a strongly dualistic worldview. Its adherents, the Mandaeans, revere Adam, Abel, Seth, Enosh, Noah, Shem, Aram and especially John the Baptist.
Mandaeism has historically been practiced primarily in the countries around the lower Euphrates and Tigris and the rivers that surround the Shatt-al-Arab waterway. This area is currently part of southern Iraq and Khuzestan Province in Iran. Persecution in Iraq and Iran has caused many Mandaeans to leave for diaspora populations in Europe, Australia and North America.
There are thought to be between 60,000 and 70,000 Mandaeans worldwide,[1] and until the 2003 Iraq war, almost all of them lived in Iraq.[5] The 2003 Iraq War reduced the population of Iraqi Mandaeans to approximately 5,000 by 2007.
Most Iraqi Mandaeans fled to Syria and Jordan under the threat of violence by Islamic extremists and the turmoil of the war.”
This story will be updated as more info is available. If you have pictures of this fire or other news stories, please contact editor@oc115.com.

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