While riding bike in Bethpage, man catches fire, dies

who would have guessed an old wino would be flammable! A friend of mine saw it happen and said it looked like a 90 year old space shuttle self destructing!

An 88 year old man who smokes and can still pedel his bicycle to the store and pick up groceries.
RJ Reynolds are you listening?

a Good Reason Not to Smoke!

Cigarettes kill or was it the bicycle exercise?

"who would have guessed an old wino would be flammable! A friend of mine saw it happen and said it looked like a 90 year old space shuttle self destructing!"

he wasn't a wino, and I find it hard to believe "your friend" saw this, since it happened right outside my kitchen window and there were only a few people around...

great reporting job. the story makes it seem as if he was on fire while he was on his bike. does anyone know if got off his bike to light his cigarette and then caught on fire. or did he catch on fire while he was peddaling the bike? how do you catch on fire smoking a cigarette?
god forgive me, i cant stop laughing as i'm typing this and reading the above posts. only newsjunk could turn a tragic story into a comedy

Maybe he was going too fast, and burst into flames like Nicolas Cage in "Ghost Rider"!!!

Only kidding, hope he gets better.

Det. Sgt. Les Meister, of the Nassau police Arson/Bomb Squad, said the fire is not suspicious. No one saw the fire start, Meister said.

how can an 87 year old man riding a bicycle on a residential street, spontaneously combust, which no one saw, and police say the fire isnt suspicious?

Only in New York would someone ride a bicycle and smoke. Or maybe in the Carolinas where the industry is. Oh yeah, Atlantic City too.

tellmeanotherone wrote:

"who would have guessed an old wino would be flammable! A friend of mine saw it happen and said it looked like a 90 year old space shuttle self destructing!"
he wasn't a wino, and I find it hard to believe "your friend" saw this, since it happened right outside my kitchen window and there were only a few people around...

My friend saw it too! uuum however he was laughing to hard to come to his aid

Hmmm wrote:

Maybe he was going too fast, and burst into flames like Nicolas Cage in "Ghost Rider"!!!
Only kidding, hope he gets better.

He died.

goodbye to you wrote:

Det. Sgt. Les Meister, of the Nassau police Arson/Bomb Squad, said the fire is not suspicious. No one saw the fire start, Meister said.
how can an 87 year old man riding a bicycle on a residential street, spontaneously combust, which no one saw, and police say the fire isnt suspicious?

maybe a little spilled 90% vodka helped.

you all should be disgusted and shamed by your comments above making fun of this man. what if this was your family member who died in a freak accident just like this? how do you think the family feels about this? i dont think any of you would have the balls to say these comments to this man's family members.

this is one of those newsday stories that will keep changing day by day. by sunday the story we be that it was actually a woman who was walking her dog and was hit by a car, or something like that. but i havent laughed so hard since that newday story about two years ago with the man that dissapeared as a child who lived in bellport. it was so confusing and newsday kept cahnging the story. no one could tell if it was a child missing or an old man because they kept changing the picture and the story. that was a joe mallia pulitzer prize winner. i'm laughing just remembering that story and the picture of the people that looked there legs were cut off. that was a classic!

Al Kahalik wrote:

<quoted text>
He died.

Oops. Never mind.

goodbye to you wrote:

this is one of those newsday stories that will keep changing day by day. by sunday the story we be that it was actually a woman who was walking her dog and was hit by a car, or something like that. but i havent laughed so hard since that newday story about two years ago with the man that dissapeared as a child who lived in bellport. it was so confusing and newsday kept cahnging the story. no one could tell if it was a child missing or an old man because they kept changing the picture and the story. that was a joe mallia pulitzer prize winner. i'm laughing just remembering that story and the picture of the people that looked there legs were cut off. that was a classic!

LOL! I remember that story and yes, it was terribly written!

Hmmm wrote:

Maybe he was going too fast, and burst into flames like Nicolas Cage in "Ghost Rider"!!!
Only kidding, hope he gets better.

He died.

Hmmmmm - this happened in Bethpage... has "OhWellShitHappens/DeathR ace" been on the boards since yesterday? My fingers are crossed!

goodbye to you wrote:

this is one of those newsday stories that will keep changing day by day. by sunday the story we be that it was actually a woman who was walking her dog and was hit by a car, or something like that. but i havent laughed so hard since that newday story about two years ago with the man that dissapeared as a child who lived in bellport. it was so confusing and newsday kept cahnging the story. no one could tell if it was a child missing or an old man because they kept changing the picture and the story. that was a joe mallia pulitzer prize winner. i'm laughing just remembering that story and the picture of the people that looked there legs were cut off. that was a classic!

I remember that story. I think the person vanished like 40 years ago and they found him dead upstate new york. But the photo had an old man and a toddler i beleive. No one knew if he was the old man or the toddler at first. That was hilarious the way they kept editing the story. It just kept getting more confusing.

Although your posts don't rate a response, I will respond anyway. This man was not a wino. He was a man who worked hard his entire life,accomplished a great deal and was a wonderful father and grandfather. He cared for his wife who had Alzheimer's, and,despite his age,was determined to remain fiercely independent - even if that meant he had to ride his bicycle to go to the grocery store. He was the kind of man who would never laugh at someone burning to death. He lived his life with dignity and was someone to be admired. For those that loved him, he will be immeasurably missed and mourned. Your posts are extremely hurtful to a grieving family.