An arsonist threw an explosive into a Queens pet store just after midnight Monday and set himself on fire in the process, surveillance video shows.
The fire at Grand Avenue Pet broke out when someone threw a Molotov cocktail through the front door. Owner Jose Cardona was working in the back when he said he heard the explosion.
"I was shocked," he said.
The fire spread quickly, just a few feet away from the bird cages, and Cardona grabbed a hose to put out the flames. By then, the firebomber had run off.
But Cardona said his surveillance camera caught the arsonist's embarrassing mistake.
"When he lit the spark, the clothes caught on fire," Cardona said. "He caught on fire, I see him patting off."
"He's not too bright," added Albert Sima, who owns the mixed-use retail and residential building.
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The video has been turned over to police.
"He could have killed a lot of innocent people for no reason," Sima said. "I don't know what made him do it."
This is the second firebomb attack in the neighborhood in the last week. On New Year's Eve, a Maspeth strip club was hit with two Molotov cocktails. Police haven't seen any evidence to indicate the two crimes are connected, but Cardona wonders why his pet store was targeted.
"I have no idea, no clue why he did this," he said.
