Man Sets Self on Fire in Costa Mesa Salon

A 46-year-old man who tried to immolate himself inside a Costa Mesa salon run by his estranged wife was hospitalized today with third-degree burns, police said.

The man was listed in critical condition at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, officials said. The incident began at 12:05 p.m. Sunday at Creative Nails & Spa at 3033 Bristol St., said Costa Mesa police Sgt. Jerry Souza.

"It was a domestic matter," Souza said.

A customer who witnessed the incident told the Orange County Register the man's estranged wife manages the nail salon.

The distraught Vietnamese-speaking man came in, screamed at his wife, sat in the middle of the floor, poured a bucket of something that smelled like gasoline over his head and lit himself on fire, she told the newspaper.

People in the store used a fire extinguisher and towels to put out the flames, but the man has third-degree burns, police told the Register.

-- City News Service