LAWNDALE, N.C. (AP) - Investigators in Cleveland County say a man died after he threw gasoline on a burning pile of wood and trash and the fire engulfed him.
The Cleveland County Sheriff’s Department said 61-year-old William Dennis Thornton was burning the materials at a home in Lawndale around 11 a.m. on Thursday outside a residence.
Thornton’s son-in-law, Douglas Mullins, told WCCB-TV in Charlotte that the man was burning two piles of debris and threw the gasoline on a pile that wasn’t burning and it blew back on him.
Thornton was declared dead at the scene. The Cleveland County Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the incident.
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