A man lit several firebombs outside the Fort Worth office of state Sen. Wendy Davis on Tuesday, startling two staff members who opened the door to find flames shooting in the air, the senator's spokesman said.
No one was injured, and Davis was not in the office at the time. An employee put out the fire with an extinguisher, said Anthony Spangler, the senator's spokesman.
The man fled across the street, according to witnesses.
"Politics is always very heated," Spangler said. "We don't know if this has anything to do with politics. We'll know a lot more when police and fire identify a suspect."
Davis, a former Fort Worth City Council member, has been locked in a heated battle over redistricting. Her office is located on trendy West Seventh Street.
She praised police and firefighters for their quick response and said she doesn't know who would lit the firebombs.
"It's a sad but true fact of public service that we have to feel concerned sometimes for our personal safety," Davis said.
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Arson investigators spent several hours examining the scene and carrying out several fuel-filled bottles known as Molotov cocktails.
A valet who works for a restaurant across from the office building said he and two other men saw the man running out the building moments after the fire alarm sounded.
The valet, who declined to give his name, said they chased the man but lost him after he ran across the street.
Spangler said the Texas Department of Public Safety was assisting the Fort Worth Fire Department in the investigation.
"I think our staffers were probably very shocked by what happened and glad to get out of the office safely," Spangler said.
Davis said her office would reopen Wednesday morning.
"We are going to try to continue to be calm but strong on the issues we believe in," she said.
Spangler also said the senator's office had received no recent threats, but investigators were checking into reports the arsonist matched the general description of a disgruntled constituent who had gone to the office in the past week.
