A group of Palm Beach County deputies headed to Key West on a weekend motorcycle trip had their vacation cut short when one of the motorcycles caught fire Friday, severely burning the man who had been riding it, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

The group had stopped at a Shell gas station in Marathon at about 3:30 p.m. to fill their tanks when Richard Ragali's motorcycle fell over on him and burst into flames, FHP spokesman Pat Santangelo said.

``There was a puddle of gas on the ground from a previous customer,'' he said. `When the bike fell, it ignited the gas on the ground, causing the motorcycle to catch on fire.'' Trapped under the burning Harley Davidson, Ragali suffered burns on 50 to 60 percent of his body before the other deputies could pull him out. Within seconds, the fire spread to a minivan at a pump nearby. Two toddlers in the van were rescued by a store clerk and a bystander before the fire reached their car seats, Santangelo said.

Ragali, 53, was airlifted to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami in critical condition. No one in the minivan was hurt.

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