Man on fire

On Friday afternoon, July 18, at about 12:30, a man apparently set himself on fire next to the Home Depot parking lot, across the street from the Valley View Casino Center.

The victim had been taken away by ambulance and an area was cordoned off with police barrier tape by the time I came on the scene.

The victim was found by two firefighters in training from Miramar. They didn't want to talk to me, but I overheard one of the firefighters giving a statement: “We were coming out of the Home Depot parking lot and I could see he had zip-ties around his wrist and was holding the gas can on his shoulder, it looked like he was going to set himself on fire. I ran and got my turn-out gear and came back out with a bottle of water and poured it over him. He dropped to his knees.”

A police officer declined to give a statement.

A security patrolman said he didn't see the victim but he heard him screaming and he saw black smoke.