(LaPorte County, IN) - A man was badly burned while working on his car in the northern part of the county.

First responders were called to the parking lot of a cigarette store just south of the state line on SR 39 a little after 3 p.m. on Sunday.

County Sheriff John Boyd says a vehicle and the man working on it caught fire. "Apparently he got gasoline on himself, and he was burned as well," Boyd said. "Our duputies saw that he had redness, peeling skin on his hands and his upper right arm and his chest, his neck, and his mouth."

Center Township firefighters assisted with the blaze. SR 39 was briefly closed down to allow a medical helicopter to land. The man was then airlifted to a trauma center.