Man Burned While Trying To Rid Rental Car Of Bed Bugs

The list of things we didn’t think needed to be explicitly stated has just grown, after a man trying to kill bedbugs with alcohol in his rental car ended up burning himself instead of delousing the vehicle.

Following what would appear to be step-by-step instructions on How To Create A Risky Situation, the man doused the car inside with alcohol, climbed inside it and lit a cigarette, according to police in Long Island, NY, setting the car ablaze.

Newsday reports that the 44-year-old man was airlifted from the shopping center where he was parked and taken to the hospital with first- and second-degree burns.

“He said he had bedbugs in the car, and someone told him if he saturated them with alcohol, it would kill them,” arson Det. Sgt. Edward Fitzgerald told Newsday. “So he went and bought some alcohol, he poured it all in there and he sat in his car and lit a cigarette..”

Two other cars were damaged as well from the fire’s heat, police said, while the man was able to escape his burning car by himself. He claims the vehicle is a rental car from Florida, something the policy couldn’t immediately verify when facing melted license plates.

“Everything’s burned up,” Fitzgerald said, “so we’re going to wait until the vehicle theft section gets us a confidential VIN number. Then we’ll know for sure.”

Man burned while trying to kill bedbugs in car, cops say [Newsday]

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