This is an 11:26 a.m. update of a story posted at 8:17 this morning.

NORTHAMPTON – Northampton Police Department detective Lt. Kenneth J. Watson was on his way to work Friday morning when he saw a woman on fire in a Pleasant Street parking lot.



"I saw a person on fire walking," Watson said, adding that the lower half of the woman's body was in flames.



It was about 6:45 a.m. and Watson said woman was on the south side of 518 Pleasant St., next to a dike that runs through the area. She then walked around to the rear of the commercial building, Watson said.



Watson said he immediately called to report the fire and then went to the woman's aid. By the time he reached her, she had stripped off her clothes which were still burning besides her.



Watson said he found a container of gasoline additive next to the woman which he believes she used to set herself ablaze.



The woman, who suffered serious burns to her legs and arms, told Watson that she had just taken a taxi from Easthampton to Northampton.



Believed to be in her 40s, the woman was taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield and then transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Police have yet to release her name.



Watson, who did not know the woman's condition. Capt. Scott A. Savino said earlier in the morning, however, that her injuries were not considered life-threatening.



An employee of the Dunkin Donuts store inside the Shell station, said the woman ordered a Coolata drink shortly before Watson spotted her in flames.



The building at 518 Pleasant is just north of the Interstate 91 overpass and across the street from a bowling alley.It houses a number of busineses, including Behavioral Health Network and Anchor House, an artist cooperative for people with a history of mental health issues.



Arlene Figueroa, office manager of Behavioral Health Network, said she does not believe the woman was a client there.



The woman, Figueroa said, was reportedly a regular customer at the Shell station.