MARIETTA — Federal authorities, including the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have been called in to help with the investigation of several fires at women's clinics across metro Atlanta. The latest fire happened in Cobb on Wednesday morning.

The FBI says it appears this was a case of arson. They released a smart phone picture of a man who eyewitnesses say was seen in the area at the time of the fire.

He's about 6-feet tall and was wearing a blue polo shirt with an emblem on the left chest and khaki pants.

Eyewitnesses described the man's car as a gray Mercury Marquis with tinted windows and large chrome wheels.

The FBI is asking anyone with information on these two arson related incidents to give them a call at 404-679-9000.

Video below is courtesy of our news partner Fox 5 Atlanta



Workers at the Cobb clinic said that two men went up to the third floor of the medical office that performs abortions just before the building fire was seen.

Some employees believe protesters who picket the practice may be behind the blaze.

Leslie Summerour of Kennesaw, a receptionist and medical assistant who has been with the practice for five years, said protestors have been a problem ever since she began working there.

“They bother us because of what we do here — abortions,” she said.

She saw two men go upstairs to the third floor to use the bathroom, which is common among patients’ drivers, and just five minutes later, the building “went up in flames,” she said.

“All we heard was bang, bang, bang, bang, ‘Get out! Get out!’ … and we thought there was a fight,” she said. “Another employee grabbed the fire extinguisher and was screaming for everybody to get out. I ran up the steps, not thinking, screaming at (owner Dr. Daniel McBrayer.)”

Summerour said McBrayer refused to leave, repeating “This is our jobs, our lives, our business. This is all we have.”

Nobody was injured in the flames, and most of the damage was confined to the top floor of the three-story brick building, where the practice stored its files and biohazard material, Summerour said.

There were about 15 employees inside the building at the time of the fire, as well as a few patients who were filling out paperwork and another who had just come out of a procedure.

“There was one that just walked out of surgery and was downstairs,” Summerour said. “What if she was still under anesthesia?”

The office will remain closed for now, but Summerour said her office manager was already looking for a temporary location.