Spontaneous human combustion is a term encompassing reported cases of the burning of a living
human body without an apparent external source of ignition. In addition to reported cases,
examples of SHC appear in literature, and both types have been observed to share common
characteristics regarding circumstances and remains of the victim.
Forensic investigations have attempted to analyze reported instances of SHC and have
resulted in hypotheses regarding potential causes and mechanisms, including victim behavior
and habits, alcohol consumption and proximity to potential sources of ignition, as well
as the behavior of fires that consume melted fats. Natural explanations, as well as unverified
natural phenomena, have been proposed to explain reports of SHC.
Overview "Spontaneous human combustion" refers to the
death from a fire originating without an apparent external source of ignition. Writing in the
British Medical Journal, Gavin Thurston describes the phenomenon as having "attracted the attention
not only of the medical profession but of the laity" as early as 1834. In his 1995 book
Ablaze!, Larry E. Arnold wrote that there had been about 200 cited reports of spontaneous
human combustion worldwide over a period of around 300 years.
Characteristics The topic received coverage in the British
Medical Journal in 1938. An article by L. A. Parry cited an 1823-published paper, "Medical
Jurisprudence," which stated that commonalities among recorded cases of spontaneous human
combustion included the following characteristics:
"[...]the recorded cases have these things in common:
the victims are chronic alcoholics; they are usually elderly females;
the body has not burned spontaneously, but some lighted substance has come into contact
with it; the hands and feet usually fall off;
the fire has caused very little damage to combustible things in contact with the body;
the combustion of the body has left a residue of greasy and fetid ashes, very offensive
in odour."
Alcoholism is a common theme in early SHC literary references, in part because some
Victorian era physicians and writers believed spontaneous human combustion was the result
of alcoholism. Forensic investigation
An extensive two-year research project, involving thirty historical cases of alleged SHC, was
conducted in 1984 by science investigator Joe Nickell and forensic analyst John F. Fischer.
Their lengthy, two-part report was published in the journal of the International Association
of Arson Investigators, as well as part of a book. Nickell has written frequently on
the subject, appeared on television documentaries, conducted additional research, and lectured
at the New York State Academy of Fire Science at Montour Falls, NY, as a guest instructor.
Nickell and Fischer's investigation, which looked at cases in the eighteenth, nineteenth,
and twentieth centuries, showed that the burned bodies were near plausible sources for the
ignition: candles, lamps, fireplaces, and so on. Sometimes these sources were left out
of popular accounts of the alleged phenomenon while they were hyped as mysterious. The investigations
also found that there was a correlation between alleged SHC deaths and victim's drunkenness
or other incapacitation that could have caused them to be careless with fire and less able
to respond properly to an accident. Where the destruction of the body was not extensive,
the significant fuel source was the victim's clothing.
However, where the destruction was extensive, additional fuel sources were involved, such
as chair stuffing, floor coverings, the flooring itself, and the like. The investigators described
how such materials helped retain melted fat to burn and destroy more of the body, yielding
still more liquified fat, in a cyclic process known as the "wick effect".
According to Nickell and Fischer's investigation, nearby objects often went undamaged because
fire tends to burn upward, and it burns laterally with some difficulty. The fires in question
are relatively small, achieving considerable destruction by the wick effect, and relatively
nearby objects may not be close enough to catch fire themselves. As with other mysteries,
Nickell and Fischer cautioned against "single, simplistic explanation for all unusual burning
deaths" but rather urged investigating "on an individual basis."
Suggested explanations Some hypotheses attempt to explain how SHC
might occur without an external flame source, while other hypotheses suggest incidents that
might appear as spontaneous combustion actually had an external source of ignition – and
that the likelihood of spontaneous human combustion without an external ignition source is quite
low. Benjamin Radford, science writer and deputy editor of the science magazine Skeptical
Inquirer, casts doubt on the plausibility of spontaneous human combustion, "If SHC is
a real phenomenon, why doesn’t it happen more often? There are 5 billion people in
the world, and yet we don’t see reports of people bursting into flame while walking
down the street, attending football games, or sipping a coffee at a local Starbucks."
Paranormal researcher Brian Dunning states that SHC stories "are simply the rare cases
where a natural death in isolation has been followed by a slow combustion from some nearby
source of ignition." He further suggested that reports of people suddenly aflame should
be called "Unsolved deaths by fire," stating that the cause being unknown did not necessarily
imply that it had not resulted from an external ignition source.
Natural explanations Almost all cases of SHC involve persons with
low mobility, due to advanced age or obesity, along with poor health. Victims show a high
likelihood of having died in their sleep, or of being unable to move once they had caught
fire. Cigarettes are often seen as the source of
fire, as the improper disposal of smoking materials causes one of every four fire deaths
in the USA. Natural causes such as heart attacks may lead to the victim dying, subsequently
dropping the cigarette, which after a period of smouldering can ignite the victim’s clothes.
The "wick effect" hypothesis suggests that a small external flame source, such as a burning
cigarette, chars the clothing of the victim at a location, splitting the skin and releasing
subcutaneous fat, which is in turn absorbed into the burned clothing, acting as a wick.
This combustion can continue for as long as the fuel is available. This hypothesis has
been successfully tested with animal tissue and is consistent with evidence recovered
from cases of human combustion. The human body typically has enough stored energy in
fat and other chemical stores to fully combust the body; even lean people have several pounds
of fat in their tissues. This fat, once heated by the burning clothing, wicks into the clothing
much as candle wax wicks into a lit candle wick to provide the fuel needed to keep the
wick burning. The protein in the body also burns, but provides less energy than fat,
with the water in the body being the main impediment to combustion. However, slow combustion,
lasting hours, gives the water time to evaporate slowly, which would require less energy than
boiling the water off quickly would. In an enclosed area, such as a house, this moisture
will recondense nearby, such as on windows. Note that feet often have the least fat, so
don't typically burn. John Abrahamson suggested that ball lightning
could account for spontaneous human combustion. "This is circumstantial only, but the charring
of human limbs seen in a number of ball lightning cases are very suggestive that this mechanism
may also have occurred where people have had limbs combusted," says Abrahamson.
Scalding can cause burn-like injuries, including death, without setting fire to clothing. Although
not applicable in cases where the body is charred and burnt, this has been suggested
as a cause in at least one claimed SHC-like event.
Brian J. Ford has suggested that ketosis, possibly caused by alcoholism or low-carb
dieting, produces acetone, which is highly flammable and could therefore lead to apparently
spontaneous combustion. Sometimes there are reasonable explanations
for the deaths, but proponents ignore official autopsies and contradictory evidence, in favor
of anecdotal accounts and personal testimonies. Unverified natural phenomena
Larry E. Arnold in his 1995 book Ablaze! proposed a pseudoscientific new subatomic particle,
which he called "pyrotron". Arnold also wrote that the flammability of a human body could
be increased by certain circumstances, like increased alcohol in the blood. He also wrote
that extreme stress could be the trigger that starts many combustions. This process may
use no external oxygen to spread throughout the body, since it may not be an "oxidation-reduction"
reaction, however, no reaction mechanism has been proposed. Researcher Joe Nickell has
criticized Arnold's hypotheses as based on selective evidence and argument from ignorance.
Notable examples Henry Thomas, a 73-year-old man, was found
burned to death in the living room of his council house on the Rassau council estate
in Ebbw Vale, south Wales, in 1980. His entire body was incinerated, leaving only his skull
and a portion of each leg below the knee. The feet and legs were still clothed in socks
and trousers. Half of the chair in which he had been sitting was also destroyed. Police
forensic officers decided that the incineration of Thomas was due to the wick effect. His
death was ruled 'death by burning', as he had plainly inhaled the contents of his own
combustion. In December 2010, the death of Michael Faherty
in County Galway, Ireland, was recorded as "spontaneous combustion" by the coroner. The
doctor, Ciaran McLoughlin, made this statement at the inquiry into the death: "This fire
was thoroughly investigated and I'm left with the conclusion that this fits into the category
of spontaneous human combustion, for which there is no adequate explanation."
In August 2013, Rahul, a two and one half months-old infant from Tamil Nadu, India,
was admitted to the Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital in Chennai, having four reported
burn injuries since birth. Initial tests ruled out any abnormalities, and further results
led the hospital to conclude that it was not spontaneous human combustion. The baby's mother
used to live in another village which had come in the news in 2004, when residents had
complained that their homes spontaneously burst into flames. Investigations had shown
that phosphorus hidden in cow dung had been present in the huts; phosphorus has a low
ignition point and can cause fires. Cultural references
The first chapter of Jacob Faithful describes the spontaneous combustion of Jacob's mother.
In Charles Dickens' 1853 novel Bleak House the character Mr. Krook, an alcoholic landlord,
combusts spontaneously due to excessive alcohol in his body.
According to a March 2013 BBC feature, it has been suggested that the Book of Numbers
contains a reference to spontaneous human combustion, but that "their accuracy may be
disputed as these accounts are much too old and based on second-hand knowledge to be considered
reliable evidence." In an episode of The X-Files titled "Trevor",
Dana Scully examines charred human remains and hypothesizes that the victim might have
succumbed to spontaneous human combustion. The South Park episode "Spontaneous Combustion"
deals with Kenny McCormick dying from spontaneous combustion.
In an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation entitled "Face Lift", Sara Sidle and Warrick
Brown investigate the case of a woman who was incinerated in her easy chair, leading
Sidle to suspect spontaneous human combustion. The CSI episode, "The Theory of Everything"
also explores the case of a man who spontaneously combusts after a police officer douses him
with pepper spray and shoots him with a stun gun.
Several installments of the popular video game series The Sims implement spontaneous
combustion as a cause of death. The chances of experiencing this are very low, approaching
0.1%. In the 1984 film This Is Spinal Tap, one of
the band's former drummers dies from spontaneous combustion. David St. Hubbins comments that
"Dozens of people spontaneously combust each year. It's just not really widely reported."
The fifth episode of the sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf, titled "Confidence and Paranoia", includes
a visual representation of the spontaneous combustion of the Mayor of Warsaw in 1546
as a hallucination by one of the crew members. In the Manga/Anime series Rurouni Kenshin,
the character Shishio Makoto, one of the main antagonists, dies from spontaneous combustion
as a result of over-exertion from fighting and a lack of sweat glands.
In Season 7 Episode 3 of ER, a patient who complains of spontaneous human combustion
is found on fire by Drs. Weaver and Finch. The video game Parasite Eve deals with the
main character investigating a mass-spontaneous combustion during an opera at Carnegie Hall.
In the TV series Picket Fences, a town mayor dies from spontaneous combustion.
In an episode of the TV series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, a character dies from spontaneous
combustion, with only his charred feet remaining intact.
In an episode of the TV series Dead Like Me a reaper dies by spontaneous combustion.
See also
Exploding animal List of magazines of anomalous phenomena
Self-immolation References
External links A BBC article describing the experiment
"HowStuffWorks ‘How Spontaneous Human Combustion Works’"
A possible SHC case from Izmir – Turkey, dated 19 May 2013