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Police: Multiple Vehicles Catch Fire In L.I. Man's Attempt To Rid Car Of Bedbugs

EASTPORT, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A man was hospitalized with burns on Long Island this week, after he allegedly set a rental car – and two others – on fire by accident as he tried to rid the vehicle of bedbugs.

The incident happened around 5 p.m. Tuesday at the King Kullen shopping center on Eastport Manor Road in Eastport, according to Suffolk County police.

Police said the man told them he had rented a car and was trying to get rid of bedbugs inside. In order to do so, he saturated the car in rubbing alcohol so as to kill the bugs, police said.

The man then lit a cigarette while sitting in the car, police said.

When he did, the car went up in flames, and the fire also spread to two other cars, police said.

Video ta the scene shows billows of black smoke rising into the sky as multiple cars burn in the parking lot.

The 44-year-old Bridgehampton man was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital in Stony Brook with first- and second-degree burns, police said.

The man had not been charged as of Wednesday evening.

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