Alleged arsonist sets himself ablaze trying to burn down Florida church

August 25, 2023

The Lord works in mysterious ways.

A bumbling alleged arsonist set himself ablaze while attempting to burn down a Florida church earlier this month.

An unidentified man carrying a can of gasoline approached the Power Outreach Ministry in Oakland Park at around 1:40 a.m. on Aug. 14, surveillance footage released Thursday by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office shows.

He pours a generous amount of the flammable in two places before leaning down to light one spot.

The man on fire. — A bumbling alleged arsonist set himself ablaze while trying to burn down a Florida church last week.

A large flame bursts around the man, who was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, and footage shows him stumbling to get away and light the second gasoline puddle.

This time, the fire dances around his legs and appears to go up his arms as he scrambles to escape the blaze — with flames licking at his feet as he flees down the street.

After lighting the fires, the man took off and is still at large.

It is unknown what his motive for lighting the church on fire was.

Emergency services 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.