Santa Rosa man lights himself on fire on Forestville-area bridge

A naked Santa Rosa man lit himself on fire at the Hacienda Bridge near Forestville Wednesday morning, Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Spencer Crum said.

A person driving east over the bridge at about 5:30 a.m. saw the 21-year-old running in the same direction while on fire and alerted authorities.

Firefighters with the Forestville Fire Protection District came to extinguish him, and a Russian River Fire District ambulance rushed the man to the Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. About 90 percent of his body was burned. No details about the severity of those burns were available, Crum said.

“He was put out by the time we got there,” Crum said. “He was actually talking.”

The man, who was not identified because of patient privacy rules, told first-responders that he set himself on fire. An empty beer bottle and a plastic 1-gallon gasoline container were found in his car parked on the west end of the bridge. Crum could not say whether drugs or alcohol played a role in the incident.

The department issued a three-day psychiatric hold on the man, who was alive when he arrived at the hospital. His condition on Wednesday afternoon was not available.

You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at 707-521-5203 or nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @nashellytweets.