ST. GEORGE — A man died from injuries sustained when flames spread from a fire pit to his clothing and fully engulfed his body outside a home in Dixie Downs Wednesday night. His friend was also injured trying to put out the fire.
Shortly after 10 p.m., officers, firefighters and paramedics were dispatched to the area of N. 1650 West for a person trapped in a vehicle fire, according to a statement released by the St. George Police Department Thursday afternoon.
“Initially this was reported as an individual who had been burned in a fire, with very little additional information,” St. George Police Sgt. Heidi Palmer said.
Firefighters found a 25-year-old man lying on the ground next to the vehicle severely burned, and he was “rushed to the E.R. with extensive burn injuries,” the statement said.
Detectives from the St. George Police Department learned that the victim was with a friend in his yard with a fire burning in a pit.
The man stoked the fire using gasoline and seconds later the flames spread to his arms and clothing. He dropped to the ground and began rolling in an attempt to extinguish the fire that continued to burn despite his efforts. He rolled until he ended up near the truck that was parked at the curb in front of the residence, which is where the first officers to arrive on scene found him and extinguished the flames with a garden hose.
An ambulance arrived and transported the man to the hospital where he died.
The victim’s name is not being released “to allow family time to notify relatives and friends of the young man’s passing,” the statement said.
According to additional information received from multiple sources, the victim’s friend who was present when the fire started was also injured during the incident when he attempted to extinguish the flames; he was also burned by the fire.
“The call initially involved the Fire Department and medical,” Palmer said, “so we are still gathering information on the incident at this time.
The investigation is ongoing.
Update 9:20 p.m. Adds information on the victim’s friend being burned.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.
He was with a friend. Why did the friend not help him or call 911? If it was a vehicle fire report, then it was not his friend who reported it. ….”the victim was with a friend in his yard with a fire burning in a pit.”….. Me thinks there is something else going on here.
that’s horrible.
protip: never pour gasoline onto a fire. It’s a bit like peeing on an electric fence. Same sort of concept, really. No joke at all.
The only thing missing was a video camera recording this stupid mistake for the Internet’s benefit…….
The outcome was to be expected, by anyone with an ounce of common sense………even more obvious than putting a frozen turkey in a pot of boiling cooking oil…….
How very sad. Condolences to the family.
How very sad. Condolences to the family
This makes me think of all the times I’ve seen guys trying to stoke an already burning fire with liquid fuels .
In retrospect , I’m surprised these events are not more common .
My condolences to the family .
I remember being taught way back as a child: if you catch on fire “stop, drop, and roll”. Anyone remember that? The thing is I think this is just for if your clothing catches fire, and probably won’t work at all if you’re soaked with gasoline. Being burned alive is one of the most terrible things to think of. If you wanna pour onto a fire just pour a very small amount into a container and toss it onto the fire; never pour onto a fire any significant amount. The flames will chase up the stream you’re pouring and explode whatever container, and then you’ll have fuel all over you, and you will burn alive. It’s very difficult to extinguish a gasoline fire, and these men probably did all they could to try and do so
Know it all posters r not cool anymore. No one cares if u know who does and does not have common sense. ICU don’t have anything nice to say, throw your computer away. So sad for this persons family
Yeah they are a bunch wanna be know it alls ! oh wait a minute ! you posted a comment to you wanna be know it all
One of these days, public/ group bullying won’t be legally tolerated, those abusers of free speech that r cruel and insensitive will destroy Americas beautiful freedom of speech..