Firefighter injured during radio stunt

TAMPA - Tampa Fire Rescue officials say a firefighter was injured this morning after a radio station stunt got out of hand.

A van caught fire in the parking lot of WFLZ radio when 93.3 radio host Dominick Siciliano -- better known as 'Fester' -- was trying to fry a turkey inside the vehicle as part of a stunt on the MJ Morning Show.

The stunt involved lowering a turkey by crane into a fryer inside the van. The DJs had previously explained that the demo was meant to illustrate the dangers of turkey frying.

<< Use the video player on this page to watch the video, recorded from Ustream.tv

However, video of the stunt posted briefly online by the station showed that fryer had already set the van itself on fire before the turkey was lowered.

"There's gonna be a fireball in a couple of seconds here," Siciliano warned as the turkey was dropped.

Sure enough, flames soon burst through the windshield of the van, and a black column of smoke billowed over the Gandy Boulevard area.

Siciliano tried to extinguish the flames with a fire extinguisher, the video shows, but the van was fully engulfed by that point.

"How we gonna put this thing out?" wondered MJ, whose real name is Todd Schnitt.

"Does this constitute arson? Oh crap," mused Siciliano as the fire department arrived moments later.

Firefighters were able to knock the flames down quickly, but agency spokesman Bill Wade said that a 26-year department veteran suffered a back injury after slipping and falling while wrangling with a hose.

Capt. Ken Licata was hospitalized but later released to recover at home.

Initial reports indicated a station staff member was also hurt, but Clear Channel, the station's parent company, denied that report and issued the following statement:

"Our intention was to show how dangerous it was to cook a turkey like this. Once it got out of control, we called the fire department."

The radio station did not have any permits or emergency crews standing by, according to Wade.

"Why the grease cooker had to be inside of a van, why there was not permits pulled, and why a firefighter had to be injured this morning is part of the investigation that's ongoing with the Tampa Fire Marshal's Office and state Fire Marshal's Office," Wade added.