Neighboring businesses respond to man's fire inside Publix

PLANT CITY, Fla. (WFLA) — Businesses and passersby are trying to deal with a disturbing incident in which a man set himself on fire at a local grocery store.

It happened Wednesday afternoon at the Publix on James L. Redman Parkway in Plant City.

All surrounding businesses that 8 On Your Side spoke with said they were in disbelief of what happened, calling it a heartbreaking incident.

Right now, the Publix mall is quiet and nothing seems out of the ordinary, but that wasn't the case Wednesday afternoon.

“You saw the firefighters pull up, then the police started pulling over, unmarked cars, marked cars,” Dane Mcbee said.

Plant City police said a call was received about a man setting himself on fire inside the store.

Dane Mcbee works at the barbershop next door and had gone to get his daily Pub-Sub.

“It was kind of crazy that I was in there 5 minutes before and I looked out, it was roped off, the whole parking lot was empty,” he said.

He said he came back to find out what was going on.

“They told me a man got everything he needed to set himself on fire, he got it inside the store, I don't like that, then he set himself on fire. fire near the wagons, out front,” Mcbee said.

Police said several people inside worked to put out the flames and the 30-year-old man was sent to hospital in critical condition.

“She saw them execute this man,” said Quyen Tran, who was translating for one of her colleagues.

The nail salon next door said they could hear fire alarms going off.

“We've been here 20 years and we've never had any problems, you know, and we've never had a situation like this,” Tran said.

8 On Your Side reached out to police to find out why this happened, but we did not get a response.

We also reached out to Publix for comment and did not get a response.

“It’s crazy, because it’s a comfort zone for all of us, you know? It’s Plant City’s grocery store and it’s just sad that this happened,” Mcbee said.