A woman set on fire in Vancouver is in hospital with serious burns, police said

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The woman, aged in her 50s, was sitting in west Dunleavy on Monday when someone threw a flammable substance on her head and set her alight.

Publication date:

July 27, 2022 • 13 hours ago • 1 minute read • 27 comments Vancouver police file photo Const. Tanya Visintin. Photo by Frances Georgian /PNG

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A woman is in hospital with serious burns after she was set on fire while sitting on a sidewalk in Vancouver’s downtown Eastside on Monday, police said Wednesday.

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“This was a shocking attack targeting a vulnerable member of our community,” said Const. Tanya Visintin of the Vancouver Police Department.

“We need witnesses and anyone with information to call police and help solve this crime.

The victim, a woman in her 50s, was sitting on the west side of Dunleavy near Powell about 1:30 a.m., according to Visintin.

Police say a stranger came up to her, poured a flammable substance on her head and set her on fire. The woman immediately ran to a nearby business to seek help.

She was taken to a hospital with serious burns, according to police. The stranger, described as a white male in his 30s, fled the area before police were called.

Investigators are investigating a second incident later that day. A man called police claiming his homemade structure was set on fire while he was sleeping in the southbound lane of Columbia Street near West 5th Avenue between 12:30 and 1:30 a.m.

He put out the fire himself and escaped without injury, Visintin said.

“Investigators do not believe the two incidents are related,” Visintin said. “However, it is still very early in the investigation so we are not ruling anything out.”

Both arsons remain under investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to call the VPD Major Crimes Unit at 604-717-2541 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

ticrawford@postmedia.com