HOUSTON – The Houston chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Houston) called on local, state and federal law enforcement authorities to investigate a possible bias motive for a fire at a mosque in the city.

Firefighters responded to a two-alarm fire at the mosque in southwest Houston on  Friday afternoon. Officials are checking surveillance video and say the cause of the fire is “suspicious.”

“Because of the recent spike in hate incidents targeting mosques nationwide, we urge law enforcement authorities to investigate a possible bias motive for this fire,” said CAIR-Houston Executive Director Mustafaa Carroll, who is talking with mosque officials and investigators at the scene of the fire.

The blaze had “multiple points of origin,” which is an indicator that a fire accelerant may have been used, according to ATF Special Agent Nicole Strong with the agency’s Houston Field Division.

Dramane Diallo, who is responsible for opening the worship center for prayer every morning, told The Houston Chronicle that the center has no kitchen or equipment that would easily cause an electrical fire.

CAIR recently released a preliminary report on more than 70 incidents targeting American mosques and religious institutions in 2015 that shows a greater frequency of damage, destruction, vandalism, and intimidation than in any other year since CAIR started tracking such cases in 2009.