Man dies after setting himself on fire outside Wal-Mart

Southtown (Chicago) ^ | February 27, 2009

[KeyLargo]

Man dies after setting himself on fire outside Wal-Mart

February 27, 2009

Sun-Times News Group

A 58-year-old Wal-Mart employee set himself on fire Thursday night outside the west suburban store where he worked and later died of his injuries.

“I can’t take it anymore,” the man told a police officer on the scene, said Randy Sater, a watch commander with the Bloomingdale Police Department.

“People tried to help this guy but he didn’t want any part of it,” Sater said. “His motive was he wanted to die. It’s just tragic.”

Sater said the man used lighter fluid to set himself on fire near a sporting goods store that is adjacent to the Wal-Mart where he worked, 314 West Army Trail Rd. His car was found in the parking lot.

Police were called about 10 p.m. The man worked the overnight shift at the store, Sater said.

Sater said a crowd of about 10 people, mostly teenagers leaving nearby chain restaurants, tried to help, offering their coats so he could put out the fire. He told them he didn’t want any help.

The man’s family, who lives in Carol Stream, were notified, Sater said. The man was first taken to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove and then transported to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood.

He was pronounced dead there at 12:42 a.m., the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office reported.

Sater said this incident was something that was going to stay with witnesses for a long time.

“I can’t even put it into words for somebody taking their life in this fashion,” he said. “The pain, it’s just incredible.”

[KeyLargo]

I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqPgcfP9WN0

[Jeff Chandler]

Bush's Fault©

[ConservativeMind]

Sounds like a liberal.

[YourAdHere]

Clearly Wal-Mart’s fault. They drove him insane.

[RatsDawg]

Does anyone know if he just got Fired?

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

EFCA Advocate?

[KeyLargo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqPgcfP9WN0

[E. Pluribus Unum]

To do it that way means you really, really, really mean it.

It wasn't just a "cry for help," that's for sure.

[DainBramage]

Maybe he heard from and old flame....

[I see my hands]

"10 people, mostly teenagers leaving nearby chain restaurants, tried to help, offering their coats"

Members of Generation Stupid doing what they do best: nothing.

[DainBramage]

At least he went outside...Walmart doesnt allow smoking ..

[WOBBLY BOB]

Devotees of Shiva??

Two Devotees of Shiva End Life by Jumping Into Fire in Hyderabad

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePage&id=8b7bce6f-8393-4e19-90ff-787bde30fc37&MatchID1=4932&TeamID1=7&TeamID2=8&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1247&PrimaryID=4932&Headline=Two+Shiva+devotees+end+life+by+jumping+into+fire+in+H

[RatsDawg]

That would be a horrible way to die, how is it humanly possible for someone to catch themselves on fire!

[MarkeyD]

Article says he wasn’t.

[ElkGroveDan]

Are these going to start popping up now like the “SUV” stories?

[Trod Upon]

He must have gotten an advance look at the coming Obama tax plan.

May he rest in peace.

[theFIRMbss]

>Man dies after setting himself on fire outside Wal-Mart [?!]

Is this the dullest
suicide ever?! Wal-Mart?!
If you're gonna go,

why not go downtown
or up to the Gold Coast and
die where things are cool?!

[SnakeDoctor]

No doubt his family will sue.

SnakeDoc

[dfwgator]

Build a man a fire and he stays warm for a night.
Set a man on fire and he stays warm for the rest of his life.

[livius]

Actually, taking your life in a gruesome way is considered a classic hostile act. It’s a way of punishing your survivors, as well as society (in the form of people who happen to be present), and saying “see what you made me do?”

I don’t know what triggered it in this case, but he was probably one of those people who had fantasized for a long time about doing something ghastly like this as a sort of parting gesture of anger and self-pity.

[theFIRMbss]

>That would be a horrible way to die, how is it humanly possible for someone to catch themselves on fire!

I used to think that.
But I have read that the fire
hurts for a second

but because the pain
is spread across your body
your nervous system

completely shuts down
and you feel almost nothing.
That's why monks do it.

[umgud]

Build a man a fire, and he will be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he will be warm for the rest of his life.

[stylin19a]

Walmart doesn't sell fire extinguishers ?

[theFIRMbss]

>Build a man a fire and ...

[Puppage]

Hey, Daffy..they LOVED YOU!!

I know, I know...but I can only do it once

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Actually, taking your life in a gruesome way is considered a classic hostile act.

Terminal passive-aggression?

[Las Vegas Ron]

“I can’t even put it into words for somebody taking their life in this fashion,” he said. “The pain, it’s just incredible.”

Not only that, Bama's gonna charge him a carbon tax

[AngelesCrestHighway]

“how is it humanly possible for someone to catch themselves on fire!”....

Once the clothes starts burning, there is plenty of oxygen to keep it going if no one smothers him fast with a blanket or whatever,he’s dead.

[indylindy]

There was a story here in Indy this week about a young girl that had head lice. She put gasoline on her hair and set in on fire to get rid of the lice. Last I heard she was in a coma.

Duh, she could have just shaved her head. Geesh

[Lockbar]

"Devotees of Shiva??"

Interesting you say that. This Wal-Mart in the story is about 7 miles from my home and I have shopped there a number of times. There is a good size Indian sub-continent emigrant population in that area. Of course, its still Bush/wal-mart's fault.

[Travis T. OJustice]

She didn’t intentionally light it up, there was a spark from the water heater or furnace.

[Lockbar]

My mom told me that gasoline was a common way to get rid of head lice when she was a child back in the 1920-30’s. Very dangerous, and you weren’t supposed to start your head on fire.

[Oldpuppymax]

If he bought the lighter fluid at Walmart, at least he didn’t overpay. The family will now file a 500 million dollar suit against Walmart for selling it to him. Obviously the store should have known his plans! Shysters will be lining up for this one.

[KoRn]

It’s a human torch!!!

Brought to you by Darwin.

[Rennes Templar]

Last seen walking around saying, anyone have a match?

[ottbmare]

I have read that the fire hurts for a second

but because the pain is spread across your body your nervous system

completely shuts down and you feel almost nothing.

I can't answer in the haiku form, but this is completely untrue. If you could ask people who have suffered 80% burns and are dying, they would tell you that the nervous system does not shut down and it is very far from painless. Quite often they beg for death after they are rescued and are treated, because the pain is past bearing.

[dr_who]

A Buddhist liberal.

[theFIRMbss]

>It’s a human torch!

The guy must have thought, 'Hey, in the movie the girls thought he was sexy!"

[RetiredArmy]

Must have been told that Obama did not mail his weekly stimulus check.

[indylindy]

Whoa, thats good to hear. I must have missed the part about a spark from the furnace.

Really awful story.

[RobRoy]

>>Does anyone know if he just got Fired?<<

If the reporter was actually a reporter, we would.

[theFIRMbss]

>Quite often they beg for death after they are rescued and are treated, because the pain is past bearing

You're probably right
and I don't plan to test it,
but from what I've read

during the burning
there's no pain, but afterward
if you live it's hell.

[xrmusn]

..tried to help, offering their coats......
Generation Stupid...
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

One of the lads said “Lets give that fella a hand”, and they gave him a standing ovation.

[Retired Greyhound]

Thanks. Love that scene.

We need a little bit of that NOW.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

An old joke.......anyone have a match?

Sure!...my ass and your face!

[bigheadfred]

Fired twice in one day? Would almost cause one to commit suicide...

[bill1952]

This is clearly a violation of State and Federal Clean Air acts, not to mention polluting the atmosphere without buying the needed and lawful Carbon Credits.

Hussein needs to act quickly to seize any assets that this blatant polluter causes to the ecosphere by his flagrant act of desecration and waste of valuable resources.

[Conan the Conservative]

“I can’t take it anymore,”

If he didnt like working at Wamart he could have just quit.

[bigheadfred]

Man who died after setting himself on fire was cremated today.