Why snipers don't smoke: CA man burns to death in homemade ghillie suit

This is a horrible story, and I’m only passing it along as a cautionary tale for those of you who have made your own ghillie suits out of materials of questionable fire resistance, or who may have purchased inexpensively-manufactured ghillies.

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What a damn shame.

Investigators have confirmed that a man who burned to death at a Los Angeles Halloween party accidentally set himself on fire while light a cigarette.

Video of the tragic event shows Gilbert Estrada engulfed in flames and flailing around helplessly as other party-goers continue to dance around him.

Estrada had gone to the West Hollywood Carnaval dressed as a sniper in camouflage. According to the Los Angeles Times, the costume was made from burlap sacks and straw.

It’s hard to get mad at the folks gathered nearby for not reacting to put him out, as the suit went up very quickly, and West Hollywood is well known for all sorts of bizarre performance art. They rather obviously thought they were watching an entertainer, not a man in danger.

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