Monday, May 7th, 2012 — The chief of surgery at New York’s Lincoln Hospital “set a patient on fire” during an operation, causing severe burns on the man’s neck and chest, The Post has learned. Dr. Jay Yelon was performing a tracheotomy on April 19 to insert a breathing tube when his electronic scalpel, which gives off tiny sparks, came close to the patient’s oxygen supply, igniting a “minor explosion,” hospital insiders say. Before the fire was extinguished, unconscious Enrique Ruiz suffered second-degree burns on his neck and chest. He awoke from sedation in searing pain.