A 50-year-old man is in the burn unit this morning after police said he accidentally set himself on fire while using gasoline, a wooden cross and candles to put together a Halloween display. 
 
 The incident happened just after 8 p.m. Tuesday at 1397 Wacker Ave. Palm Bay police identified the man as Ron Nielson. He was treated by Palm Bay Fire-Rescue crews at the scene and then airlifted to the Orlando Regional Medical Center’s burn unit where his condition was not immediately known this morning. 
 
 “He was conscious and alert but he had second-degree burns over 40 to 50 percent of his body, including his chest, arms, upper torso,” said Yvonne Martinez, spokeswoman for the Palm Bay Police Department. 
 
 Police said Nielson was with his wife putting together a “prank,” display along the side of his house when he retrieved the gasoline and candles. “It started as some kind of prank apparently and involved a wooden cross. We don’t know if he was trying to light the cross or the candles but when he did, his clothes caught fire,” Martinez said. 
 
 Fire investigators said the area where the cross and candles were being set up were not properly ventilated, possibly causing the vapors from the gasoline to ignite once a fire was started. A person who saw Nielson on fire called 9-1-1 for help. 
 
 An investigation is underway. 

 A Palm Bay man was hospitalized with serious burns he suffered while decorating his home for Halloween Tuesday night, according to police. 
 
 
 
 According to his wife and friends, the 50-year-old man was using gas to light a wooden cross as a joke when he set himself on fire at his Wacker Avenue home. 
 
 
 
 Investigators said the man's wife used a water hose to douse the flames. 
 
 
 
 The man was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center with burns over 40 percent of his body and suffered second-degree burns to his upper torso. 
 
 Authorities said the man had been drinking. 
 
 His name was not released.
– It's a Halloween display gone very wrong: Police in Palm Bay, Fla., say a 50-year-old man suffered second-degree burns over half of his body when he tried to set fire to a Halloween display involving a wooden cross, reports Florida Today. He didn't necessarily have sinister motives, though. “It started as some kind of prank apparently," says a police spokesman. "We don't know if he was trying to light the cross or the candles but when he did, his clothes caught fire." And WFTV adds this understated line: "Authorities said the man had been drinking."