One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Man Who Burned To Death At WeHo Halloween Was Trying To Light A Cigarette
(Photo courtesy of Pablo Estrada)
An investigation into how a man burned to death at the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval has confirmed witness accounts that he set himself on fire while lighting a cigarette, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department announced.The video from the event shows Gilbert Estrada, 51, engulfed in flames as people continue to dance and party around him; some even heckle him.
"When it first happened, people thought it was part of the show," Estrada's brother, Pablo Estrada, told LAist. "When people realized what was going on, they started putting out the flames and emergency personnel took him to the hospital."
Pablo Estrada said his brother attended the festival every year and was dressed as a sniper in camouflage. He was trying to "light some type of cigarette and accidentally caught his costume on fire," the sheriff's department said in a statement released Thursday.
The costume was made of burlap sacks and straw, the Los Angeles Times reports.
"It's really thin and flammable," Los Angeles County Sheriff's Det. Richard Biddle told The Times. "That stuff could ignite pretty fast."
According to Biddle, a bystander saw Estrada accidentally ignite the hood of his costume with a lighter. When he pulled the hood off his head, the flames spread to his back, eventually engulfing his entire body in a blaze, the bystander said.
Estrada's family has set up an online fundraising account to raise money for the funeral costs.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
