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Man on High Street caught fire, witness says

A man was reportedly burned early Monday morning in the backyard of a home on the 1100 block of High Street, according to witnesses.

City firefighters, police and paramedics rushed to the scene about 12:40 a.m., but the unidentified victim already had been taken to the UPMC Susquehanna Williamsport Regional Medical Center in a private vehicle.

“I heard pop, pop, pop. I thought someone was shooting. I heard about eight pops. I looked out my window and saw flames in a barrel or a fire pit,” neighbor Frank Price said.

“A guy threw something (in the pit), and all of sudden it just exploded. There was a boom and the man’s head and whole body were on fire,” Price said.

“The man started running around and then he fell down. He was on the ground on fire,” Price said, adding that two other men came out and tried to help the victim.

“Whatever was thrown into the fire, it just exploded into the man’s face,” Price said, adding “perhaps the pops I heard were firecrackers being thrown in the fire, I really don’t know.”

City fire officials had no details on Monday about this incident or the fire that destroyed a small shed in the 600 block of Washington Boulevard early Sunday morning.

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