State and federal law enforcement are investigating three suspicious fires set at Jewish institutions in Arlington and Needham.

State Police spokesman David Procopio confirmed that the state police’s Fire Investigation Unit and Fusion Center are assisting in the investigation, as are troopers and federal agents assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force. The Fusion Center is an organization of state, federal and local law enforcement that share intelligence and resources.

Procopio said law enforcement is meeting currently to discuss next investigative steps as well as a public release of information.

A fire was allegedly set at a rabbi’s home in Needham Thursday evening — the same night a fire was set at a rabbi’s house in Arlington.

Both buildings targeted were Chabad houses, which are Jewish institutions where a couple affiliated with the Orthodox Chabad movement will set up a community center and offer services like prayers, Sabbath meals and Jewish communal events.

John Guilfoil, a spokesman for the Arlington police, said, “The Arlington and Needham Police chiefs have spoken and the Arlington Police Department is in contact with state and federal law enforcement agencies.”

“There were similar incidents at a Chabad Center in Arlington but we can’t say the incidents are conclusively connected at this time,” Needham police said in a statement Friday.

Rabbi Avi Bukiet, the rabbi of the Chabad House in Arlington, said in an email sent to parents at the school where he teaches, that he and his family are safe but “are very rattled by this second incident within one week.”

Chanie Krinsky, who runs the Chabad Jewish Center in Needham along with her husband, posted on Facebook that her home, which also functions at the community center, was intentionally set on fire Thursday night.

Krinsky wrote that she smelled the fire and her husband, Rabbi Mendy Krinsky, was outside with a fire extinguisher to put it out even before the smoke alarms went off.

Krinsky wrote that the family is safe and the only damage is to some shingles.

“Somebody out there wants to hurt us. Just because we exist. And that is frightening,” Krinsky wrote.

Reached by phone, Krinsky asked a reporter to call back later.

“There were no threats made and no graffiti on the dwelling, however this is being investigated as a possible hate crime,” Needham police said.

Also Thursday evening, a second fire was reported at the Chabad Center for Jewish Life in Arlington. A previous fire was reported there on Saturday night, May 11.

The Arlington police and fire departments are investigating those fires as suspicious.

According to the police, firefighters responded to the 9 p.m. fire at 129 Lake Street in Arlington immediately upon getting a call and noticed light flames coming from one side of the house, confined to the wood shingles. The officer used a handheld fire extinguisher to put out the flames.

“While we will leave it to the (Arlington Police Department) to determine how to officially classify these incidents, we feel the overwhelming sense that these incidents were targeted at our home and our Jewish community,” Bukiet said. “These incidents have shaken us, our families and you, our beloved community. But they will not shake our resolve to live our lives as Jews, to teach gmilut chesed, acts of loving kindness, and to work toward a world that is filled with G-dliness.”

State Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey said in a statement, “Every arson fire causes fear and anxiety in the community, but one in a house of worship more so because of the possibility a group was targeted for violence.”

There have been 21 arson fires in houses of worship over the past decade in Massachusetts.

The Arlington Human Rights Commission is planning a gathering on Monday.

This is a breaking news story that has been updatedT