NEW YORK (AP) -- Fire broke out Wednesday at the Harlem building that houses the offices of the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network the day after he filed papers to run for president.
The fire was reported at 8:30 a.m. on the building's second floor, the same floor as Sharpton's offices, and spread to a church on the third floor.
It took 1 1/2 hours for firefighters to put out the blaze, which was mostly confined to a reception area where Sharpton holds rallies and news conferences.
One civilian was being treated for smoke inhalation, authorities said.
Investigators were interviewing two men believed to have been in Sharpton's offices at the time the fire broke out, Deputy Assistant Chief Tom Galvin said. One was a 23-year-old National Action Network employee, he said.
Sharpton spokeswoman Rachel Noerdlinger said Sharpton was flying up from Washington.
``We really don't know what happened yet. The fire chief has told us it's still under investigation,'' she said.
More than 100 firefighters responded to the three-story, brick building, which also houses a restaurant and a church.
On Tuesday, Sharpton formally filed papers seeking the Democratic party's nomination for the 2004 presidential race.
On Monday, which was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer joined Sharpton at the offices for a forum commemorating the life of the slain civil rights leader.
