Smoker who accidentally lit sweatshirt on fire has died

EASTON, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say a New Jersey man who accidentally set his hooded sweatshirt on fire while trying to light a cigarette outside a Pennsylvania mall has died.


The Lehigh County coroner's office says 78-year-old Phillipsburg resident Roger Carney died Sunday night at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest.

Palmer Township police say he was outside the Palmer Park Mall near Easton on Feb. 21 when his sweatshirt caught fire.

Some people inside the mall saw the fire and ran outside to douse it with water, but Carney had severe burns to his hands, upper chest and head by the time police arrived.

The coroner's office says he died of complications from the burns and the death was ruled accidental.