http://www.bakersfield.com/619/story/90830.html
A day after the Kern High School District board of trustees voted to rename winter and spring break as Christmas and Easter break, a 31-year-old man set himself on fire in front of the Liberty Bell on Truxtun Avenue in apparent protest.
The man, whose name wasn’t released, used flammable liquid to set himself, a decorated Christmas tree, an American flag and a revolutionary flag replica on fire just before 3:30 p.m., according to Bakersfield fire Capt. Garth Milam. Bakersfield police, in a release Friday night, reported that he had a flag that read “Don’t Tread on Me".
The fire was quickly extinguished by a nearby deputy and two parole agents, according to the Bakersfield police.
Kern County sheriff’s Deputy Lance Ferguson saw drifts of smoke from the security station at the doors of the court.
The deputy, who mans the security at the door, grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran outside.
Flames were devouring a Christmas tree next to the Liberty Bell where public events and demonstrations are common.
Beside the tree stood a man with an American flag draped around his shoulders, holding a red gas can over his head. When the man saw the deputy he poured the liquid over his head and within seconds the fumes from the gas met the flames from the tree and the man burst into flames.
Ferguson yelled to the man again and again to drop to the ground as he and a nearby parole agent emptied their fire extinguishers on him.
“The man stood there like this,
