BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – “God’s ways are as mysterious as the pathway of the wind,” the Bible says in Ecclesiastes, and an incompetent arsonist who found fire surrounding him while trying to burn down a church in Florida earlier this month might be thinking the same thing.
An unidentified arson suspect carrying a can of gasoline walked up to the Power Outreach Ministry in Oakland Park at around 1:40 a.m. on Aug. 14, according to surveillance footage released Thursday by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.
The man who apparently sought to burn the church to the ground poured a generous amount of fuel in two places before leaning down to ignite one spot, the New York Post reported.
(Broward County Sheriffs Office)
A large flame bursts around the suspect. Security video shows him “hot footing” to get away and light the second gasoline puddle, which creates the need to “hot foot” some more as the fire surrounds his body and he scrambles to escape the flames and make his getaway on foot.
A suspect set himself on fire while trying to burn down a church in Florida last week. (Broward County Sheriffs Office)
First responders swiftly extinguished the flames, according to Fox News.
“After extinguishing the fire, firefighters alerted deputies to evidence that the fire at the Power Outreach Ministry may have been intentionally set. The Oakland Park City Fire Marshal responded to the scene and determined the fire to be arson,” Broward County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
A motive for the arson remains unknown and the church sustained more than $1,000 worth of damage, Fox News reported.
The suspect has not yet been captured.
