Updated at 4:59 p.m.
An arsonist set fire to the door of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Burlington office Friday morning, briefly trapping staff inside, according to police.
Nobody was injured, authorities said, and the senator was not present at the time.
According to the Burlington Police Department, an unidentified man entered the vestibule outside Sanders’ third-floor office on Church Street at around 10:45 a.m. and sprayed “an apparent accelerant” on the door. The man lit the accelerant, prompting “a significant fire” to engulf Sanders’ office door and a portion of the vestibule, police said in a press release. The man then fled.
The blaze impeded staff members’ egress from the office, police said, “endangering their lives.” The building’s sprinkler system extinguished the fire. Firefighters and police officers evacuated Sanders’ office and those nearby.
Police said they had not apprehended a suspect and had not identified a motive. They released photos of a man they described as a suspect and asked for the public’s help in identifying him.
According to a separate press release issued earlier Friday by the Burlington Fire Department, the activation of the sprinkler system caused “significant water damage” to the third floor of the downtown Masonic Building, as well as to the floors below.
Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies were contributing to the investigation — including the U.S. Capitol Police, which is charged with protecting members of Congress — according to the Burlington Police Department.
In a written statement, Sanders state director Kathryn Van Haste thanked law enforcement agencies and first responders for their efforts.
“We are grateful to the Burlington Fire and Police Departments who responded immediately today to a fire incident that took place in our office building,” Van Haste said. “We are relieved that no one on our staff and, to our understanding, no one in the building was harmed.”
Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak said in a separate statement that she was “grateful for the quick action” of first responders. She said she had been in touch with Sanders’ staff and would continue to offer her support.
