Fires do minor damage to building that houses Taylor campaign headquarters

<p>Three fires were set Monday and did "minimal" damage at a building that houses the campaign headquarters of Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor, authorities said.</p><p>Investigators believe the fires were caused by arson, Atlanta Fire Department spokesman Capt. Byron Kennedy said. Taylor is running against Secretary of State Cathy Cox in the Democratic primary. The winner will challenge Gov. Sonny Perdue, a Republican.</p><p>"There is no doubt it was intentionally set," said Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine. "There's no question whoever set the fire intended to bring the whole building down. Fortunately it did very minimal damage _ cosmetic damage."</p><p>The fires in the three-story building on the 1600 block of Peachtree Street, not far from the High Museum, were reported about 5:50 a.m. Monday. A fire was set in the hallway of each of the multiple office building's three floors, Oxendine said.</p><p>He said there is $10,000 reward for information that will lead to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for the arson. Accelerant samples from the fires will be taken to the state crime lab, Oxendine said.</p><p>When fire crews arrived the fires had already gone out, because the building's construction contained flame retardant materials and there was very little oxygen for the blaze to grow in the hallways where the fires were set, Oxendine said.</p><p>Taylor's campaign manager, Mike Mikus, said he had been told the lieutenant governor's second-floor campaign office received minor damage from a fire that was set outside in the hall.</p><p>He said the fires were discovered by a campaign worker.</p><p>"Basically one of our campaign staff was coming in at 6 a.m.," he said. The front door had been smashed. The worker saw and smelled smoke, and called 911.</p><p>When asked if he thought Taylor's office may have been targeted, Mikus said, "We're just going to wait until the investigators make a determination."</p><p>He added, "This will not hinder us in any way and we're going to move forward."</p><p>Oxendine said most of the accelerants that investigators found were on the second floor where Taylor's office is. But the accelerant was not directly placed on the office door. Instead it was on the floor nearby.</p><p>"If I were targeting him I would probably put it right there at his door. It was on the floor but not right there at his door," Oxendine said.</p><p>Mikus and other campaign workers watched firefighters from the building's parking lot. He said he expected to be allowed to re-enter the building sometime after noon.</p>

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