MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A historic Black church in downtown Memphis that was the organizing point for Martin Luther King Jr.’s final campaign in 1968 caught fire early Monday morning and suffered significant damage.

“The inside is a total loss, but we’re still somewhat hopeful that some of the facade will be able to be left standing,” Memphis Fire Chief Gina Sweat said at a Monday morning news conference. She said the fire was reported at 1:39 a.m. through a commercial alarm service. Local fire and police officers are investigating the cause, along with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

King was drawn to Memphis in 1968 to support some 1,300 predominantly Black sanitation workers who went on strike to protest inhumane treatment. Two workers had been crushed in a garbage compactor in 1964. On Feb. 1, 1968, two more men, Echol Cole, 36, and Robert Walker, 30, were crushed in the compactor. The two men were contract workers, so they did not qualify for workmen’s compensation and had no life insurance.

— The Associated Press