UPDATE: June 20, 5:40 p.m.: The person has died from their injuries, Portland Fire and Rescue says.

Updated: June 20, 9:11 a.m.

A person set themself on fire Tuesday afternoon in a downtown Portland park across from the Multnomah County Courthouse after reading a manifesto about homelessness and mental health.

Witnesses gave conflicting statements about the gender of the person.

"It was just like those monks," said Scot Baughman, who was sitting in a park bench shortly after the incident.

Baughman, a process server, was in the park at Southwest 4th Avenue and Main Street when the self-immolation occurred. He was the first person to attempt to put out the fire.

Donna Maxey, who was also in Lownsdale Square at the time, said she saw it unfold. She noticed a person enter the park, on crutches and barely able to walk, wearing a red scarf around their neck.

They "sat down and her papers were blowing away," Maxey said. They "sat there for a while looking at [their] papers."

The person "was reading a statement about homelessness and mental health issues," Maxey said.

At that point, both Maxey and Baughman said, the person started to scream.

Then, said Maxey, they "got out a gallon bottle and poured what looked like dirty water over [their] head.

"I thought maybe [they were] really hot," Maxey said. "All of a sudden I saw blue lighter."

Baughman was walking through the park, he said, when the victim "stood up, completely engulfed in flame.

He said his first impulse was to take a picture, but instead he ran to the person, took his shirt off and used it to try to stop the flames.

But, said Baughman, the flames "would just not go out."

Maxey said another woman called 911.

As Baughman tried to put the fire out, a sheriff arrived to help. But the person's head was still on fire.

"Finally, they came over with a fire extinguisher," Baughman said, and were able to put the flames out.

The victim "just had a tank top and shorts on," Baughman said.

The burned clothes made it look like the person "had nylons on," he added.

Baughman said it appeared the majority of the victim's body was burned. The person was alive, he said, when taken by ambulance to a hospital.

The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office said a sheriff's deputy provided assistance during the incident but provided no further details.

The Portland Police Bureau said Portland Fire and Rescue was the lead investigative agency on the immolation case. Portland Fire and Rescue did not immediately respond to request for comment.

-- Lizzy Acker

503-221-8052

lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker