Man Drives Burning Truck to Firehouse

A 40-year-old man who drove his burning pickup truck to a North Hollywood fire station on Sunday was severely burned over one quarter of his body, authorities said.

“He was driving the truck when it was on fire. He stopped right in front of the fire station,” said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Bob Collis. “Nobody could figure out what he was doing.”

Arson investigators discovered a one-gallon gas can attached via a hose to the truck’s carburetor, Collis said. “I’ve never heard of such a thing,” he said. “They’re unable to talk with him, at least at this time, to find out why he did that. It’s not clear.”

The man, a Russian immigrant whose identity was not released, was able to get out of the burning truck on his own. He spoke only Russian to firefighters. Paramedics took him to North Hollywood Medical Center, where a nursing supervisor said late Sunday that he was in critical condition and was expected to be transferred to the burn unit at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.