Man Sets Himself On Fire [3/9/2005]

[Technix]

National News Few answers after man sets himself ablaze outside Ontario legislature


March 9, 2005 - 21:28

TORONTO (CP) - A dramatic standoff in front of the Ontario legislature ended in desperation Wednesday as police and firefighters struggled to douse flames that had engulfed a clearly distraught man.

"I don't want to harm nobody," the unidentified man, driving a rental van, yelled repeatedly while dousing himself in gasoline. "I don't want to kill myself." Police cruisers formed a protective barrier to prevent the van from mounting the front lawn of the legislature where a rural landowners protest played out, most demonstrators oblivious to the scene behind them.

After about 30 minutes of driving the van erratically toward police vehicles, the man - his face obscured by glasses and a dark hat with ear flaps - delivered a final message to onlookers.

"You leave me no choice at all."

Firefighters and emergency task force officers sprung into action when the van backed onto a traffic island. Police used at least two cruisers to pin the vehicle in place, masked and heavily protected officers smashed the van's windows while firefighters unleashed a torrent of water.

Still, the man became engulfed in flames as television cameras, on hand for the anti-government demonstration, broadcast the grisly scene live and onlookers reacted in horror.

Several attempts were made to pound out the blaze after he fell to the pavement.

"He kept re-igniting because he was so soaked in gas," said one firefighter.

Firefighters turned their high-pressure hoses on the man as he lay on the ground, spreading a fan of what appeared to be blood onto the pavement beside him.

It took some 30 seconds to douse the fire, after which the man was transported to hospital.

"He's still alive at this point, but badly burned," said Joe Martino of the Special Investigations Unit, the provincial agency that investigates circumstances involving police and civilians that result in serious injury, sexual assault or death.

"Over the course of the incident, this van appears to have been blocked in by a couple of cruisers, at which point our information indicates that there was fire emanating from inside the van," said Martino.

"Based on that set of circumstances, we have started an investigation."

The man had also thrown envelopes out of the van but police wouldn't say what was in them.

The motivation behind the man's desperate act were left to speculation Wednesday, as provincial members of parliament expressed concern at what unfolded outside the gates of Queen's Park.

Social Service Minister Sandra Pupatello said she was looking into whether the man was having trouble with social assistance benefits.

"We are now checking with our regional offices to see if there are any cases, anything that could have predicted this kind of activity," said Pupatello.

"Any time there is something this dramatic, this difficult, naturally we go back to check all of our offices."

Pupatello said she was "anxious" to find out what his issues were.

Premier Dalton McGuinty called the incident a "very disturbing event."

"Our thoughts are with the individual involved, family and friends. I also want to take the opportunity to pay tribute to our emergency service workers who responded so quickly and so selflessly as usual."

The incident started just before 1 p.m., as hundreds of farmers staging a protest on the legislature grounds made speeches from a flatbed.

Police were concerned the man might harm others as he started the van and drove it erratically back and forth just south of the main legislative building.

"We're not sure what's in that truck," one officer said as he pushed onlookers back to safety.

Although the truck was set ablaze as well, the contents were revealed to be nothing more than some pieces of cardboard and two plastic fuel canisters.

The odour of gasoline was still noticeable in the air an hour later.

The owner of the Budget car rental company where the white van had been leased said the man was a customer, but all questions were referred to police.

It was the latest in a string of dramatic and disturbing incidents involving police in Toronto.

On Sunday, police were on the scene talking to a disturbed man who heaved his five-year-old daughter off an overpass onto a busy highway before killing himself. The girl is in unconscious and listed in critical condition in hospital.

On Wednesday, the Special Investigations Unit wrapped up a day-long probe into the case of a knife-wielding man injured after police officers - some with guns drawn - forcibly subdued him by running him down with a police cruiser. He suffered a fractured wrist.

[bungoshlung]

wow, i could never get the courage to do something like that