A homemade tiki torch led to a full response by firefighters and police in Tamaqua on July 27, as well as criminal charges for the inventor.

Police were called to the 600 block of East Elm Street at 9:15 p.m. by someone who reported their neighbor had set a fire in front of a home. When firefighters and police arrived, the smell of gasoline hung heavily in the air.

Resident Paul Bales, 61, said he had been trying to create a tiki torch. He didn’t know why there was a strong odor of gasoline, until police started searching. Then Bales retrieved a broom from under a shrub in the yard. The broom had a burned rag wrapped around the top. Bales admitted pouring gasoline on the rag so he could create a torch.

When Bales added the gas to the rag, he also spilled a large amount of fuel on the sidewalk. That gas burned along with the “torch.”

He was cited for dangerous burning.