Update:
PORTLAND, Ore. - The first Portland Police officer to arrive on the scene of the man who set himself on fire Wednesday outside the Nicholas Ungar Furs store, accidentally used pepper spray in an attempt to put out the flames instead of a fire extinguisher, officials at the Portland Police Bureau said Thursday.
Police said the officer, who was nearby, saw 26-year-old Daniel Shaull from Kansas on fire, parked her patrol car, went to her trunk and accidentally grabbed pepper spray used for riot control instead of the fire extinguisher.
The canister of pepper spray the officer used is red like many fire extinguishers.
Police said someone else, a motorist who had been driving by, did grab an actual fire extinguisher to help Shaull, but he kept running away.
“They (officer and motorist) attempted to get the young man to roll on the ground to put out the flames,” Portland Police Chief Rosie Sizer said. “He kept running away and was uncooperative. Eventually, additional cover units arrived, and they were able to get him on the ground and extinguish the flames.”http://www.katu.com/news/local/82970607.html
o_o
>> parked her patrol car, went to her trunk and accidentally grabbed pepper spray used for riot control instead of the fire extinguisher
Whoa! They must have some big-ass pepper spray canisters!
Note to self: behave when in Portland. And don’t set oneself on fire, even accidentally.
...
It is not clear if the man was running away because of the effects of the pepper spray.
Sizer said she’s been told by the Portland Fire Bureau that the pepper spray used was water based and was not an accelerant. She said it did not make matters worse but that the use of the spray was regrettable.
OMG, guy's on fire and here comes the police with a cannister of pepper spray! It's really hard to maintain my composure here.
Police said someone else, a motorist who had been driving by, did grab an actual fire extinguisher to help Shaull, but he kept running away.
Pepper spray the burning man and he would tend to run away.
Other than that, he kept running away. He did not want to be extinguished. He wanted to be THE fur martyr. Well I guess he succeeded.
Now everyone will remember him for, 5 or 10 minutes. Tops. Way to go, idiot. Shoulda had a V8. Mink, anyone?
Tears streaming funny!
Ooopsie.
OMG that’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in WEEKS! They peppered sprayed him?
There is a scene from a Quentin Tarantino movie here somewhere.
Salt also does a good job of smothering fire. She should have poured a few 50 lbs sacks on him.
Pepper Sprayed a burning man?
What? There no vats of acids nearby to dunk him in?
I echo the many other FReeper reactions.
This is the biggest “Just Damn!” I’ve seen in a long, long time.