Well, he's had his 15 minutes, though I doubt he lasted that long
 

<img src="http://images.art.com/images/PRODUCTS/large/10086000/10086114.jpg">

All kidding aside, this guy would have won hands down the contest for 'Best Costume' at the Burning Man Festival.

My guess is that he's running away from the police, EMS, or bystanders trying to put out the fire. The French may be seen as jerks in the US, but I doubt they'd just stand there and watch a man immolate himself.

The word Dave was probably searching for was "crispy".

We had a patient set himself on fire on our front porch once. It wasn't clear whether this was an intentional act, or just that the dude was so drunk lighting his cigarette represented more than the usual challenge.

One of our EMT's came in and annouced, "Hey, there's a guy on fire on the front porch."

She was VERY perturbed when my only response was, "Well, did you put him out?"

Interestingly, a man attempted the same thing in front of the French embassy in Ottawa, Canada and the CBC reporter covering the event was the one that pulled the lighter out of his hand while police and other protestors tackled the guy to prevent him from starting the fire (he was already covered in gasoline).

I'm not sure that it's interfering with journalistic objectivity to prevent someone from harming themselves, as the statement being made can still be made ("a man was admitted to hospital after attempting to set himself on fire to protest .....").

If the reporter gave the man the lighter, then that would be questionable objectivity. It's very subtle, but i think that in real-life practice, there can be a distinction made.

CBC = Canadian Broadcast Corp - the state-run media corp.

-r.

The reporter should have carried a machete or something. That way, they could have just cut his hand off, preventing the fire. Then the guy could have some suffering like he wanted, got a ton of publicity, and the reporter could have still been a hero. The blood all over the concrete would also leave a nice reminder of his protest for the rest of the people there. A tournakit would have kept him from dying. All would have been well.

Yeah, it turned out well anyway, but this would have been more noteworthy, which is what the guy wanted anyway. :D

Quzah.

Having watched him light up on the 'BBC' all I can think about is how much this asshat is going to cost the NHS, I hope he died quick, saving me a fortune.

if you could find us a video clip that would be awesome!

During war, journalists must maintain journalistic integrity for their safety. To prevent one person from harming another is asking to be harmed yourself. Is there a substantial difference between stopping someone from harming themselves and stopping someone from harming others? I can't imagine there is. "Journalist integrity" doesn't just boil down to self-preservation does it?

Agreed on the latter statement though. Handing him the lighter would clearly be the opposite of journalistic integrity.

Or to ask it a completely different way... would it be right for a journalist to have stopped Thich Quang Duc? A normal civilian?

Images such as these are horrible, but also horribly riveting.

My wife often asks me why I watch things like Real TV and You Gotta See This. My answer is always the same, and in two parts:

1) If these people are going to go to all the trouble of doing incredibly stupid shit, and videotaping it, the least I can do is honor their memories by watching it.
2) I consider such images to be a primer on things not to do. In short, it is educational, and inspires me not to, for example, attempt to leap over moving trains on a motorcycle, or take a joy ride in a tank until shot to death by police. If I hadn't seen what happened to the people who did those things, I might well be think something similar would be a good idea...

Car and Driver was doing a photo shoot on this huge wrecker with a boom that swivels 360 degrees and picks up 80 tons. They had the boom out and were picking up a cement truck when a local cop pulls up. The cop says "Lemme guess. In the last 1/2 hour somebody here said Hey watch this." I think the same goes for most of those reality videos.:D

I tear for it
 

I don't hope this thing happen. I saw one large oil fire when I was young. They still make me feel terrible....

Actually with gas prices being so high, self-immolation is a fairly expensive proposition these days. That's probably why you don't see it happening very often in the non-OPEC nations anymore.

Or remarkable stupidity.