PEEKSKILL - A man was burned yesterday while siphoning gas from a car parked in the garage of a house at 750 Hoover Ave., fire officials said.

The man was using an electric siphon to remove gas from a car around 1 p.m., in order to mow his lawn when the pump caused a spark that ignited gas fumes, Fire Chief John Pappas said.

"The vapors ignited and engulfed him," Pappas said outside the single-family red-brook home in a quiet neighborhood off Washington Street. "He had burns over a good part of his body."

The man, who appeared to be in his late 20s or early 30s, was alert and speaking with firefighters as he was placed in a Peekskill Ambulance and rushed to the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, Pappas said.

Westchester County arson investigators were called in because of the man's injuries.

The fire was contained to the garage on the lower level of the two-story home, although there was extensive heat damage throughout the garage and smoke damage in the upper floor, Pappas said. The driveway slopes down from the street into the two-car garage.

Peekskill firefighters responded with a ladder truck and several engines.

Pappas said that although siphoning gas is generally not a good idea, the man would have likely avoided injuries had he used a hose without an electric pump.

PEEKSKILL - A man was burned yesterday while siphoning gas from a car parked in the garage of a house at 750 Hoover Ave., fire officials said.

The man was using an electric siphon to remove gas from a car around 1 p.m., in order to mow his lawn when the pump caused a spark that ignited gas fumes, Fire Chief John Pappas said.

"The vapors ignited and engulfed him," Pappas said outside the single-family red-brook home in a quiet neighborhood off Washington Street. "He had burns over a good part of his body."

The man, who appeared to be in his late 20s or early 30s, was alert and speaking with firefighters as he was placed in a Peekskill Ambulance and rushed to the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, Pappas said.

Westchester County arson investigators were called in because of the man's injuries.

The fire was contained to the garage on the lower level of the two-story home, although there was extensive heat damage throughout the garage and smoke damage in the upper floor, Pappas said. The driveway slopes down from the street into the two-car garage.

Peekskill firefighters responded with a ladder truck and several engines.

Pappas said that although siphoning gas is generally not a good idea, the man would have likely avoided injuries had he used a hose without an electric pump.