Ontario's police watchdog is investigating the death of a man who reportedly set himself on fire in downtown Toronto early Tuesday.

According to the Toronto police, the man reportedly poured accelerant on himself and set himself on fire in the area of Dundas Street East and Church Street. Officers from 51 Division were called to the area for a man in distress at about 8:45 a.m.

The fire was extinguished and Toronto paramedics took the man to hospital in an emergency run, police said.

According to the Special Investigations Unit, there was an "interaction" between the man and police after officers went to the scene.

"Officers attended a nearby convenience store and after an interaction, which included deployment of a conducted energy weapon, the man was apprehended," the SIU said in a news release on Tuesday.

The SIU said the man was taken to St. Michael's Hospital, where he died of his injuries.

Officers closed the area temporarily to allow an investigation to occur.

Police are not commenting on the case.

"By law, we can't comment," police said in a tweet.

Two SIU investigators and two forensic investigators have been assigned to the case.

Anyone who has information is urged to call the SIU's lead investigator at 1 (800) 787-8529. Anyone who may have video evidence of the incident is urged to upload that video to the SIU's website.