Man sets women's hair on fire in downtown Seattle

[flamingyouth]

Two women were set on fire in downtown Seattle Wednesday after a man used a yellow canister to splash them and an elderly man with lighter fluid, witnesses said.

Flames from one woman's hair shot up to 3 feet for about 5 seconds at Third Avenue and Union Street, a witness who helped catch the assailant said. The incident occurred around noon.

The witness wanted to be identified only as a Seattle man who works at a downtown bank. He said he was "shaken" by what he saw.

"Her hair was going crazy," the 33-year-old said. "This woman erupted into flames. I thought she was going to die."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/301867_fire01ww.html

[maxsolomon]

1. seattle: crazy magnet

please, rural america: stop sending us your insane.

[LisaM]

2. There's been an upsurge downtown lately

I was waiting for my boyfriend the other night and a guy came staggering toward me, telling me he was bipolar and really hungry. I gave him $5. He was very pleased and I thought he was walking away, but then he came back and said, "do you like football?" I said, "yes", and he said, "Indianpolis Colts!" I answered, "no! I'm rooting for the Bears" before it occurred to me maybe I shouldn't be talking to him. He wagged a finger at me and said, "Peyton Manning MVP, baby!" Finally he left. But this is not that unusual; there are a lot of homeless people downtown lately, more than I've ever seen.

[AmandaRuth]

3. The certainly was a bizarre incident.

It was great that bystanders immediately came to the aid of the women whose hair got set on fire, and also chased down the suspect.

I do agree with poster above that the homeless in seattle are greater in number and getting more aggressive. I work in Pioneer Square and have had a few moments when I was left a little shaken and afraid, and a few other moments when I had to call the police due to the indigents praying on each other.