A 69-year-old Wamac man has died as a result of a flash fire that occurred when he attempted to use gasoline to light a brush fire outside his home early Friday night.
Wamac Police Chief Steve Prather says Jerry Donaldson of the 300 block of Wabash Avenue appears to have been thrown 15 to 18 feet by the initial explosion. A neighbor who looked outside saw Donaldson on fire. The Centralia Fire Protection District was called to the scene and put out the fire on Donaldson’s upper body, but it was too late.
Coroner Claude Howell pronounced Donaldson dead on the scene.
Prather says the brush fire was not burning when he arrived. He reports that small remnants of a five-gallon gas can Donaldson was using were located.
The fire call came in at 6:48 on Friday evening.
