WTHR |Fire destroys Clinton's Terre Haute campaign HQ

Fire destroys Clinton's Terre Haute campaign HQ

Rich Van Wyk/Eyewitness News

Indianapolis - A fire destroyed Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign headquarters in Terre Haute between Thursday night and early Friday morning.

The fire erupted shortly after midnight. Two campaign volunteers told investigators they smelled smoke hours earlier, but that it went away. They said they didn't give it another thought until volunteer firefighter Darrell Summerlot started kicking in the front door.

"I am trying to pound the door and get it open as soon as possible," said Summerlot.

Summerlot was driving by the scene when he noticed the roof in flames.

"By the time I got them out, in about 30 seconds, the ceiling started to cave in.  It was going real quick," he said.

No one was injured in the fire. Friday morning, former president Bill Clinton was on his way to a campaign appearance for his wife. He stopped at the destroyed headquarters and admired what he called the volunteers' "spunk."

"It's not a bad omen. We are just like the phoenix, rising from the ashes. We'll go again. It is sort of a metaphor for Hillary. She never quits," said her husband.

Investigators are scrutinizing the fire investigation since it is a headquarters for a presidential candidate.

The State Fire Marshal's office and the FBI joined Terre Haute investigators on the case.

"This is a high profile case - so all the precautions are being taken to do a thorough investigation," said John Gardner of theTerre Haute Fire Department.

Investigators ruled out arson Friday afternoon. Their investigation is now focused on the building's electrical wiring or the possibility of a lightning strike. 

The volunteers who escaped the fire returned to a destroyed campaign headquarters and intend to open another nearby.

Sen. Barack Obama's downtown Indianapolis office has also seen trouble. It was vandalized last weekend.

Officers noticed a large window broken out of the campaign office located on the corner of South Meridian and Washington Streets near Monument Circle.

Police arrested a vagrant, who told them he threw a street barricade through the window. A woman was working inside at the time, but was unharmed.