Phoenix Taco Bell Fire: Man On Fire Walks Calmly Into Taco Bell, Asks For Water
Customers at a Phoenix Taco Bell saw a man on fire Thursday night. According to the New York Daily News, the man, who had 90 percent of his body covered in flames, walked calmly into the Taco Bell eatery, and asked for ice water. Customers and employees say that most of the man’s body was charred.
It all started in the parking lot.
“He was just standing there. He wasn’t screaming, he wasn’t yelling or anything. He just looked like in complete shock,” explained witness Lindsay Riedlinger, a manager at Arby’s (the chains neighbor each other at that location).
Riedlinger said that customers ran into Arbys talking about the man on fire and asking for help, so she grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran into the parking lot. She didn’t hesitate to spray the man, who was half naked by that point.
The man then walked into the Phoenix Taco Bell, still on fire, and asked for a glass of water to drink. Riedlinger followed him into the establishment, where she says things got pretty intense.
“I went in after him as well and the place started getting really smoky real fast. There were kids and families in there,” Riedlinger said.
Within minutes, emergency crews arrived, and took the man to a nearby hospital. He is currently listed in critical condition with severe burns over most of his body. According to CBS News, police are still working to figure out how this man caught on fire to begin with. Sgt. Trent Crump said that there is an investigation surrounding the case. The man has not been publicly identified.
It is possible that the man on fire at the Phoenix Taco Bell set himself on fire. As bizarre as that might sound, this wouldn’t be the first case of self-immolation by burning. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, a man in Washington, D.C., set himself on fire in October 2013. The man covered himself in gasoline, and then lit himself on fire near the National Mall. Police believed that he was trying to kill himself, though it was unclear if he was part of an extremist group of any kind. The man was saved, and was taken to the hospital with severe burns.
Everything at the Phoenix Taco Bell is back to normal after Thursday’s incident.
Business as usual at this W Phx Taco Bell after a man walked in last night on fire & asks for water, now in hospital. pic.twitter.com/Qtt5cJpDuu
— Mike Robison (@mrobisonfox10) November 14, 2014
[Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons]
