Woman tries to torch Sundance Square Christmas tree

FORT WORTH, Texas - Police and witnesses stopped a woman who allegedly tried to set the Christmas tree in Fort Worth's Sundance Square on fire.

It happened Sunday evening just as Kalie Schuman and Sarah Chretien were posing in front of the tree. She captured the incident on video.

Schuman’s sister had her phone and about to snap a photo of her and a friend.

“The person next to us is spraying lighter fluid everywhere,” she recalled.

Schuman saw the woman take a lighter from her back pocket.

“She soaked the tissue that she had, lit that and threw it in the puddle of lighter fluid she sprayed,” she said.

The woman can be seen in the video lighting what appears to be a piece of paper on fire and tossing it towards the 56-foot-tall blue spruce. A small fire erupted at the base of the tree.

The woman took off running as soon as others realized what she was doing, but she was quickly caught by police.

Schuman says bystanders and other Sundance employees stomped out the fire. She says this won’t stop her from being a regular visitor to the square.

“Even in the worst case scenario, we still felt safe down here because there was a ton of security guards walking around and police patrolling the streets,” she said.

Fort Worth police say the woman will not face criminal charges because there are mental health concerns.

“You want to differentiate between a criminal act and somebody having some other sort of health issues, and that’s what this case was,” said Fort Worth Police Sgt. Chris Britt.

Others who were there say the situation was quickly contained.