Someone called 911 to report a person on fire in Woodland Park this morning, according to a Seattle Fire Department spokeswoman.
Just before 9:45 a.m., firefighters were called to the park at North 50th Street and Whitman Avenue North, said spokeswoman Dana Vander Houwen. By the time they arrived, the flames had been doused but a woman in her 50s was severely burned, she said. The woman was rushed to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.
Vander Houwen couldn’t say how the woman became engulfed in flames, how the fire was doused or whether investigators think the fire may have been a suicide attempt.
In May, police were called to Woodland Park Zoo after a man had hung himself with a rope from a tree. He died a couple days later at Harborview and his death was ruled a suicide.
[Seattle Times]
Pictures of the paramedics on the scene and a witness being interviewed can be seen on PhinneyWood. PhinneyWood adds these details to the information above:
A Seattle Police sergeant on scene told me he does not believe it’s a case of foul play. He couldn’t tell me the age of the woman or any other details. A police department chaplain was on scene.
[PhinneyWood.com]
Read about the suicide that took place at the zoo in May in this Seattle Times report.
Update, 12:30 p.m.: The incident apparently took place on the overpass, as reported by wh344, who left the following comment at 11:10 a.m. on the Seattle PI’s police blog:
There was just a homicide or suicide by fire at n.50th & Whitman, on the overpass. The report came in as “someone on fire on top of the overpass.”. SFD has called for SPD to respond.
[Seattle 911]
Update, 5:15 p.m.: The Seattle PI’s police blog, Seattle 911, has been updated. Sadly, the woman, who was 57, died. Police believe the death to be a suicide.
