Las Cruces Man Dies In House Fire; El Paso Homeless Man Survives Fire

Las Cruces police say a man who died over the weekend might have been heating water on his stove when his clothes caught fire.

Police say 80-year-old Ismael Lujan Sr. had severe burns on his body when he was found Saturday afternoon on his kitchen floor.

Police spokesman Dan Trujillo tells the Las Cruces Sun-News a neighbor alerted Lujan’s family after hearing water running at Lujan’s home Friday and Saturday.

Trujillo says Lujan appeared to have turned the water on in an attempt to douse the fire but was overcome before he could extinguish it.

Authorities say the water still was running and the stove was on when they arrived.

An autopsy is being conducted to determine the exact cause of death.

In El Paso, Tuesday morning, a 53-year-old homeless man was set on fire by a portable stove being used in a niche against a rockwall. The stove also set a tree on fire. The man, who was living under the Delta-Alameda overpass, was sent to the Lubbock burn center.