Officials at an El Paso high school said a student set himself on fire Tuesday.
Witnesses said the 16-year-old male freshman at Irvin High School calmly stood up from his desk with a small flame on his left sweater sleeve.
The teacher ran for help, getting a school police officer who pulled the sweater off the boy and put out the flames -- which witnesses say spread to both arms.
The teen suffered second- and third-degree burns to his arms.
Someone also pulled the fire alarm, and the entire school was evacuated.
"Our counselors, our nurses, our teachers, they're the ones that are seeing the students on a day-to-day basis, they know them," said El Paso ISD Spokesperson Melissa Martinez. "So, they're going to notice if the student is acting differently."
A witness that was inside the classroom said the student started the fire by lighting a piece of paper with a candle that was on the teacher's desk.
