LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP — An Ironton area man is listed in fair condition today after apparently accidentally burning himself Saturday evening.

According to a Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office report, authorities were called Saturday evening to the grange hall on State Route 141 in Lawrence Township in response to a man who had been burned in a fire.

The victim, Thomas Cade, 44, of 623 County Road 26, Ironton, was taken by helicopter to Cabell Huntington Hospital in Huntington, W.Va.

Cade first told deputies a couple of men had given him a ride, but then they took him to a cemetery near the grange hall and set him on fire. But Detective Andy Sisler said a search of the area turned up no evidence to corroborate Cade’s initial claim, which he later changed.

“He said it was accidental and the story he had initially given me was to protect himself from public perception regarding his carelessness,” Sisler said.