Man lights himself on fire inside Workers' Compensation Board building

[Summitric]

Claire Theobald
More from Claire Theobald Published on: July 15, 2016 | Last Updated: July 15, 2016 10:25 AM MDT

A man lit himself on fire inside the Workers Compensation Board building on Friday July 15, 2016, Shaughn Butts
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Emergency crews are at the scene where a man lit his clothing on fire inside of the Workers’ Compensation Board building in Edmonton Friday morning.
Fire officials confirmed they were called to the building at 9912 107 St. at 9:52 a.m. to reports that a man had set his clothes on fire inside.
Burnt remnants of fabric and clothing were strewn across the sidewalk outside.
More to come …

 

[Summitric]

A large emergency crew presence outside the Workers' Compensation Board building at 9912 107 St NW in downtown Edmonton, where a man lit himself on fire Friday morning. July 15, 2016.
Charles Taylor, Global News


A man was taken to hospital Friday morning after lighting himself on fire at the WCB building in downtown Edmonton.
A large police, fire and EMS presence was seen outside the building on 107 Street near 99 Avenue.
Edmonton Fire Rescue said it was called to the scene just before 10 a.m., to reports of a man in front of the WCB building with his clothes on fire.

The fire was extinguished by security.
It’s not known why the man lit himself on fire. Fire investigators were also called out. Global News has a crew on scene.

The building houses the Workers’ Compensation Board, a employer-funded provincial agency that provides compensation to Albertans who have been hurt or disabled on the job.
The downtown building was the scene of a hostage-taking six-and-a-half years ago. On Oct. 21, 2009, Patrick Clayton took nine people hostage at gunpoint.
He surrendered to police 10 hours after herding people into a conference room with a hunting rifle and 100 rounds of ammunition. In 2011, Clayton was sentenced to 11 years, but with time already served, it was reduced to a six-year, 10-month sentence.
Clayton was released on day parole on November 2015.