SEATTLE (AP) — A 61-year-old man poured gasoline over himself and set himself on fire Thursday in a crowded University of Washington plaza in an apparent suicide attempt, police said.

The man was taken to a hospital with second- and third-degree burns, said Ralph H. Robinson, assistant campus police chief. There was no immediate word on his condition.

The fire was reported in the early afternoon in Red Square, a brick plaza at the center of campus, said Robinson and city Fire Department spokeswoman Helen Fitzpatrick.

Robinson said witnesses told him, “All of a sudden there was this big flame and a ball of fire.”

UW student Jayoung Kim said she initially thought the flames were a joke. People threw clothing and tried to squirt the man with water bottles, she said; one man even took off his jeans and tried to use them to douse the flames.

“Nobody could do anything. We couldn’t help,” she said.

The square was full of people at the lunch hour, said Bjarne Varnes, a university maintenance worker.

Tom Giardino, a student walking to work near the square, said a crowd gathered as the man was put into the ambulance.

“The guy wasn’t part of any sort of organized protest and didn’t make any declarations before he started,” Giardino said.

After the flames were extinguished, the man appeared to be badly burned and was incoherent when medics arrived, UW student Jacob Maria told KOMO-TV. There was a strong smell of gasoline and a gas can in the man’s backpack, he said.

It appeared to be a suicide attempt, Robinson said, adding: “We do not know why he did this. We do not know whether he was a student or staff or what his affiliation was.”