A man in his 30s was hospitalized in serious condition after he somehow caught fire overnight in Fort Green Park, police say.
Fabio Otalora, who lives in the neighborhood, told NBC 4 New York he was watching TV shortly after midnight when he heard someone yell, "You are on fire! You are on fire!"
Otalora rushed outside to try to help and saw the unidentified man, sitting on a wall, fully engulfed in flames, he said.
Otalora, who described the man as a "ball of fire," said he grabbed a pail of water from his home and doused the flaming man.
"His face was on fire," Otalora said. "I grabbed a blanket, put that on him. He wasn't responding. I thought he was dead."
Police responded and the man was taken to a hospital, where he was being treated for third-degree burns at a hospital Friday.
Police say it's not clear how the man caught on fire, and the investigation is ongoing.
Local
Otalora's wife, Sigal Demayo, said she was completely shocked by the bizarre incident and couldn't sleep all night. She said she hoped the man would be OK.
