Authorities are searching for a man who burst into flames while trying to siphon gas from a U-Haul and then fled from the fiery scene in Southeast Portland on Monday morning.

Firefighters rushed to a reported blaze beneath the Morrison Bridge at Southeast 2nd Avenue and Belmont just before 7 a.m., said Lt. Rich Chatman, a Portland Fire & Rescue spokesman.

There they found a van and a U-Haul box truck both engulfed in flames, which firefighters quickly extinguished, Chatman said.

Surveillance video from the scene shows that a man in the van had pulled up next to the U-Haul and hooked up a homemade siphoning hose to the moving truck, Chatman said.

The man then dragged the hose into his van and began to offload gasoline into a canister, Chatman said. Soon after, a blaze erupts inside the van.

If you smell something burning this morning...Portland Fire just put out this van and Uhaul, which we’re fully involved. The fire investigator is on scene at SE 2nd and Belmont. #KOIN6News pic.twitter.com/05UNxek4N2 — Elise Haas (@EliseKOIN) November 19, 2018

"All you see is fire ignite and then you see this guy run away with the lower half of his body in flames," Chatman said, citing the surveillance video.

"We haven't found him yet."

Chatman said he had no other details about the suspect. The investigation is ongoing.

-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh

skavanaugh@oregonian.com

503-294-7632 II @shanedkavanaugh