fire

My university has an alert system where they send you email or text message (or both) if there is an emergency type situation on campus. This got started after we had a fatal shooting here last year of a staff member.

So today I'm walking to a meeting and my phone buzzes, so I picked it up to check it and I had received a text message. It said that a man had lit himself on fire in the main square area of campus. It said that the area was secure and emergency personnel had taken the man to the hospital. I checked on our campus webpage a few hours later and it turns out that he died from the severe burns over much of his body.

This sort of thing just really makes me wonder what was going on in this guy's life. He wasn't a student here, but apparently he was a former employee. I hope that his family can get through this hard time. I can only imagine what they must be feeling.

I also hope that all the students and staff who witnessed this do what they need to do to cope with it. The university has offered many counseling services to those who need it.