A man has been arrested after a "very deliberate" attack in which he allegedly set himself on fire and tried to drive into a police station in western Sydney.
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About 7pm on Thursday, police noticed a man aged in his 60s parked in the driveway of Merrylands police station, Assistant Commissioner Denis Clifford said.
As they approached the vehicle, it ignited and the man drove it down the driveway, ramming the roller door of the underground car park, Mr Clifford said.
The officers extinguished the blaze and pulled the injured man from the car. Paramedics took the man to Royal North Shore Hospital suffering "very serious burns" to the front of his body.
He remained in hospital in a stable condition on Friday morning, and was under police guard.
Mr Clifford said some kind of accelerant was used to ignite the blaze but tests were still being carried out to confirm whether fuel and gas had both been used to cause the fire.
When asked if the man had any known links to terrorist organisations or radical views, Mr Clifford said there was "nothing to indicate that he is linked to anyone else, but that will form part of our inquiry".
He said "there's still a lot of unknowns", and police continued to investigate the man's motivations.
"We're trying to work through all of that," he said.
He praised his staff for their conduct.
"It's very concerning, this is a serious incident. The police reacted very bravely and it's just a miracle that nobody else was seriously injured."
No officers and no members of the public were injured.
Mr Clifford said he could understand why people were concerned.
"It's a busy area, it was late-night shopping, there were a lot of people around," he said.
He asked anyone who saw the incident but had not yet spoken to police, "to please come forward ... particularly if there is any mobile phone footage as is often the case these days."
Police sources told Fairfax Media the man had a history of mental health issues.
#BREAKING: first pictures of car, carrying gas bottles, which slammed into #Merrylands Police Station. @9NewsSyd pic.twitter.com/ggtQIhvFKQ— Tiffiny Genders (@tiffgenders) July 21, 2016
One source said it was a "very deliberate attack on the station".
Police blocked off the street as they dealt with the man.
Officers from Police Rescue and the Bomb Disposal Unit were examining the car.
NSW Fire and Rescue confirmed they had been called to an incident at the police station on Memorial Avenue but could not share any further details.
Specialist officers wearing helmets and holding shields, plainclothes police officers wearing bulletproof vests and dog squad officers patrolled the scene.
- with Megan Levy, Georgina Mitchell
