After responding to a call of a man on fire Wednesday afternoon, Victoria Police say the individual has died of injuries sustained in the incident.
VicPD Community Services Division officers, BC Emergency Health Service Paramedics and Victoria Fire Department firefighters converged in the 600-block of Gorge Road E. shortly after noon Wednesday.
In a statement, VicPD said they discovered the man “in immediate need of assistance, being helped by bystanders.”
Lorie Jimenez, co-owner of the Sub Stop Shop at 680 Gorge Rd E., said shortly after lunch a customer ran through the back door. “He came in and said ‘Oh, there’s a man on fire! Do you have a fire extinguisher?'” she said.
Jimenez handed her husband, Jesse Jimenez, the fire extinguisher and he was able to put out the fire before police arrived on scene.
The man was transported to hospital with life-threatening injuries, where he died shortly after.
“We are working with our partners from the Victoria Fire Department and the BC Coroners Service on this file,” the staement reads. “It remains under investigation and further details will be released at a later time, pending notification of the man’s next of kin.”
