Federal investigators to look into fire at Vallejo mayor's law office

VALLEJO, Calif.

ABC7 News talked with a spokesman for the Vallejo Police Department. He said their investigators are treating this incident an act of domestic terrorism, so they have called in the FBI and the ATF to assist in this investigation.

The reception area of the law offices of Mayor Osby Davis was destroyed by the Saturday morning fire. Cleanup crews sifted through the ashes to recover as much as they can.

Mayor Davis was clearly stunned by the fire, "I'm not going to express my feelings, I'm just telling you they're going through the investigation they're trying to piece together the pieces and we'll deal with what we have to deal with."

Davis has rented the office space for more than two decades. What hangs on the walls now are scorched and singed proclamations and plaques -- mementos from a career in public service. The blaze started early at about 1:30 a.m.

"We had heavy smoke and fire coming from one of the windows, one of the front windows, waiting areas," Vallejo Fire Department Chief Paige Meyer said. "Crews aggressively attacked the fire, we were able to stop the fire and contain it to the room of origin."

According to the fire department, indications are that it may be arson. So they will turn this over to the Vallejo Police Department so they can pursue the criminal part of this case. Amongst the soot and debris of the front office now stands crime scene tape, marking where investigators believe the fire started.

The owner of the building told ABC7 News off camera that this is just the latest in a series of acts of vandalism on Davis' offices. He even showed us rocks that have been thrown through the front windows on four different occasions over the last few months.

One woman who snapped pictures of the damage said she believes her friend is being targeted, "I believe it was a direct attack against Mayor Davis," said Davis' friend, Fatima Epes. "I believe that this is in regards to his deciding to stand up and call in the AG, the Attorney General in regards to what's happening in the City of Vallejo."

There has been plenty of speculation by other friends of the mayor that ABC7 talked to about who would possibly be after the Davis and why. But at this point investigators are simply trying to preserve some basic pieces of evidence, so they are not offering any information about possible suspects.