Sen. Bernie Sanders addresses Unite Here Local 11 employees protesting exterior of Figueroa Hotel in downtown Los Angeles on Friday. Authorities are investigating a blaze that was set at his Burlington, Vt., workplace that very same day.

Damian Dovarganes/AP

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Damian Dovarganes/AP

Sen. Bernie Sanders addresses Unite Here Local 11 employees protesting exterior of Figueroa Hotel in downtown Los Angeles on Friday. Authorities are investigating a blaze that was set at his Burlington, Vt., workplace that very same day.

Damian Dovarganes/AP

A fireplace broke out at Sen. Bernie Sanders’ workplace in Burlington, Vt., on Friday, damaging the constructing however leaving occupants unhurt. Authorities within the state now say they’re investigating it as arson and trying to find an unidentified male suspect.

The Burlington Fire Department stated crews arrived on the Church Street workplace on Friday morning to seek out the sprinkler system and fireplace alarms activated, and a “fire in the vestibule between the elevator and the entrance door to Senator Bernard Sanders’ office.”

“The fire was extinguished, and the Senator’s office and surrounding offices were searched and cleared of occupants,” they added.

While no accidents had been reported, authorities stated the door to Sanders’ workplace sustained reasonable fireplace harm, and the third flooring and flooring under sustained important water harm.

The brick building is house to a number of workplace and retail areas. It previously housed a Masonic temple and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, in accordance with native alt-weekly newspaper Seven Days.

The fireplace division stated later within the day that the fireplace marshal’s workplace had deemed the fireplace “incendiary in nature,” that means it was set intentionally. The Vermont State Police and Burlington Police Department have taken on a joint investigation into the fireplace’s origins.

Burlington police say they’re on the lookout for an unknown male suspect, who sprayed a potential accelerant on the workplace door, set it on fireplace and fled the scene, in accordance with The Associated Press.

“A significant fire engulfed the door and part of the vestibule, impeding the egress of staff members who were working in the office and endangering their lives,” police stated in a press release. “The sprinkler system then engaged and largely extinguished the fire.”

Authorities haven’t decided a motive, and say the suspect stays at giant. Police launched a grainy photograph of a person carrying an orange beanie, darkish jacket, white Nike sneakers and what seems to be a tote bag.

Sanders, who lives in Burlington and served as its mayor earlier than being elected to Congress, was not in his workplace and even within the state on the time of the incident. He was rallying with striking hotel workers on the picket line in Los Angeles.

“We are relieved that no one on our staff and, to our understanding, no one in the building was harmed,” Sanders’ state director Kathryn Van Haste stated in a statement to media retailers.

She credited the fast work of native first responders, whom she stated at the moment are coordinating with U.S. Capitol Police and the Senate Sergeant at Arms.

U.S. Capitol Police shield Congressional buildings in addition to members of Congress, each in Washington, D.C., and their house districts.

It said in January that threats in opposition to lawmakers had climbed final yr, with its menace evaluation part opening investigations into 8,008 circumstances. That’s about 500 greater than it noticed in 2022, however nonetheless decrease than the previous two years.