A man who set himself on fire outside the Athens Walmart on Thursday evening is in stable condition at a Tennessee hospital, an official said.

The injured man, who has not been named by officials, was transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center by helicopter after the incident. Kristin Smart, a senior information officer at VUMC, confirmed the man was alive and in stable condition as of Friday morning.

Soon after the incident Thursday, emergency personnel said over emergency radio the man had suffered second-degree burns all over his body.

According to witnesses and dispatch reports, the man doused himself in gasoline at Murphy USA in the Walmart parking lot. Carrie Turner said she was at the gas station when she saw “a man standing in front of a gas pump, with no car, acting very agitated and suspicious.”

She told The News Courier the man was talking to himself, but she couldn’t tell what he was saying. She saw him drench himself in gasoline and run into Walmart briefly before exiting the store and running up the side of the store to the northeast corner of the parking lot, where he lit himself on fire.

Turner said she didn’t see the actual lighting, but by that time, she had already reported his behavior at the gas station to authorities. She said officers arrived at the scene and were able to extinguish the flames with handheld fire extinguishers seconds after it started.

Athens police officers used the fire extinguishers from their patrol cars to put out the fire, according to a statement from the city of Athens. Athens Police Chief Floyd Johnson said no bystanders were injured.

Treatment delay

Air Evac was called at 6:44 p.m. to transport the man but the service was delayed, according to emergency radio dispatches. Instead, the man was transported by ambulance from the scene to Athens-Limestone Hospital.

Despite telling The News Courier in April that three of the five Air Evac bases near Limestone County could reach the area in less than 30 minutes, it was more than an hour Thursday before a dispatcher announced over emergency radio that the Air Evac helicopter had landed in Athens to pick up the injured man.

When asked for comment on the delay, Shelly Schneider of Air Evac cited HIPAA law and said she could not confirm Air Evac was ever in Athens. Instead, she said Air Evac “transported a patient from Limestone County to the vicinity of Nashville.”

She said Air Evac places bases “contiguously, so that if one is unable to respond … then another may be able to respond.” She could not provide further official comment on what may have led to the inability to respond more quickly Thursday night or how often such an inability could occur.

Hearts for Homeless

Angie McElyea, co-founder of Hearts for Homeless, said someone had recently reached out to the organization to try and find help for the man after he was caught attempting to steal food from a local grocery store. Hearts for Homeless was in the process of finding the man, who had been reported as homeless and sleeping near the Athens Walmart parking lot.

McElyea said they were unable to locate him before Thursday’s fire. McElyea said Hearts for Homeless is still interested in helping the man should he return to the area after recovery.