Former Orange YMCA building that could become part of Islamic cemetery is scorched by fire

Heavy fire ravaged an old YMCA building on the site of a proposed Islamic cemetery for more than an hour early Saturday morning before fire crews doused it, emergency officials said.

The fire was first reported at around 1:02 a.m., according to the Orange Fire Department. When firefighters got there, heavy smoke was billowing out of the building.

The blaze burned until firefighters were able to put it out at around 2:21 a.m.

A dispatcher for the fire department said there were also “spot fires,” in the area in addition to the larger fire, and they also had to be extinguished.

It wasn’t clear if the smaller fires were what set the building ablaze, or if embers from the building fire led to the smaller ones.

Fire investigators were still determining what caused the blaze on Saturday afternoon. No damage estimate was available.

The 5,262-square-foot building was first erected in the 1970s as a YMCA facility, operating until 2016. Last month, the city received a proposal to remodel the building into a prayer hall for Islamic funerals.

The large property, adjacent to the 55 Freeway, also previously featured a BMX bike riding track. The plan for the grounds were to build walking paths and make space for about 3,000 gravesites.