WASHINGTON — (CNN) A Planned Parenthood Health Center was targeted by an arsonist who broke a window and threw an accelerant that ignited a small fire near midnight Wednesday, authorities said.
Investigators say the fire was arson at the Planned Parenthood clinic in the Los Angeles suburb of Thousand Oaks, said Capt. John Reilly, a spokesman for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.
There were no suspects as of Thursday, he said.
The fire was short lived because the sprinkler system extinguished it by the time firefighters arrived, authorities said Thursday.
No one was injured in the incident late Wednesday night, and the clinic had reported no threats this week, authorities said.
An object was thrown through the window, and the scene smelled of gasoline, said Capt. Mike Lindbery, a spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department.
The damage was minimal, and the arsonist may have broken the window with a rock, Reilly said.
The incident came a day after a Congressional committee aggressively questioned Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards in a hearing that her defenders claimed was a Republican attack on abortion rights.
However, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said he called Richards to testify because of the $450 million Planned Parenthood receives in federal funding, money that the Utah Republican said the women’s health organization was misspending.
Planned Parenthood provides a range of health services, including cancer screenings and abortion.
Officials with the organization couldn’t be immediately reached for comment Thursday about the arson investigation in Thousand Oaks, located 45 miles from downtown Los Angeles.
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