Fire in built environment

A Sikh leader says the community is feeling "shattered" after a fire destroyed a temple and some of its holy books north of Adelaide overnight.The Country Fire Service (CFS) responded to reports of a fire at Gurudwara Dashmesh Darbar in the suburb of Virginia, about 9:40pm on Sunday.About 60 firefighters and 20 trucks attended the scene, supported by the Metropolitan Fire Service (MFS), SA Ambulance Service, SA Police and SA Power Networks.CFS Incident Controller Gerry Thomson told 891 ABC Adelaide crews worked for three to four hours to extinguish the fire, due to a lack of water in the township.He said the temple had been established inside a large industrial factory on Old Port Wakefield Road."The fire was burning in what we believe is a kitchen area in that vicinity and got into an industrial part of the factory and because of refrigeration panels, it just made our job very difficult," Mr Thomson said.We had gas cylinders in there and the refrigeration panels become quite difficult to extinguish because of the flame in the middle of the panels and once that goes, that burns through the building."Mr Thomson said one man was "resting" inside the temple when fire crews arrived, but he was evacuated and uninjured."We had multiple people from the place of worship standing around outside on first arrival," he said.He said fire crews would remain on the scene this morning to extinguish hot spots inside the building, while fire cause investigators would also attend the scene.The CFS estimated the damage exceeded $1 million dollars.Gurudwara Dashmesh Darbar president Bakshish Singh said the industrial factory was converted to a place of worship for the Sikh community about two years ago.He said the fire quickly engulfed the building and flames reached as high as the roof."This temple is not just a building that has been burnt, people used to find peace there, they used to come there to pray, to serve, meditate, donate groceries, sharing meals together, support one another," Mr Singh said.On Monday morning, dozens of community members prayed outside the burnt temple and became emotional when one of the destroyed holy scripture was carried out.People bowed in respect as tears ran down their faces.Sikh leaders said the holy books were extremely sacred in their religion and were regarded as a living eternal spirit.They said they would take the ruins of the books that did not survive to be cremated.Mr Thomson said CFS would try to retrieve some of the scriptures, which remained under a collapsed roof."It's very important for them to get the scriptures, even if it's the ash," he said.Mr Singh said the temple also provided important community outreach services."Those who come from overseas and they don't have a place to live or food to have straight away, they can come anytime and they can get groceries, food," he said."Everything that is inside is gone, the roof collapsed, nothing that could be recovered, there was a lot of equipment there, groceries, everything."SA Police Senior Constable Matt Hale told 891 ABC Adelaide motorists should expect delays around Port Wakefield Road in Virignia."There are lane restrictions in place so the best advise is just to avoid that area if you can," he said.