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Man found dead after car fire on Pacific Avenue erupts — Tacoma police investigating

By Sean Robinson

Updated March 25, 2022 8:02 PM

The remains of a car that was found engulfed in flames in a Fred Meyer parking lot sits on the 7200 block of Pacific Avenue in Tacoma, Wash. on Friday, March 25, 2022. A man was pulled from the burning vehicle by people in the parking lot and pronounced dead at the scene by officers. Cheyenne Boone cboone@thenewstribune.com

Tacoma Police are investigating a man’s death after responding Friday to a reported car fire at a gas station near the Fred Meyer store in the 7200 block of Pacific Avenue.

Police spokeswoman Wendy Haddow said officers arrived on the scene to find the fire had already been extinguished. “Samaritans” pulled the man out of the car. Tacoma firefighters attempted life-saving measures, but pronounced the man dead at the scene.

TPD and TFD responded to the 7200 blk of Pacific Ave for a vehicle on fire in the parking lot. When officers arrived, they found an injured adult male next to a vehicle. Samaritans had put out the fire. The male was pronounced deceased on scene. This is now a Death Investigation. pic.twitter.com/HTYx4dH1tL
— Tacoma Police Department (@TacomaPD) March 25, 2022

“We had one witness that said they heard like an explosion,” she said. “They took the guy out, and Samaritans put the fire out.”

The man had “some trauma to him,” Haddow added, but the nature of his injuries was unclear.

“It’s a death investigation,” she said. “We don’t know what caused that injury. Until we do know, we’re just going to list it as a death investigation.

This story was originally published March 25, 2022 at 5:27 PM.

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