97 lines
4.5 KiB
Plaintext
97 lines
4.5 KiB
Plaintext
S P O N T A N E O U S H U M A N C O M B U S T I O N
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No longer a burning issue...
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By Al Seckel
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Have you ever gotten so mad that you felt that you were about to
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burn up?
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Well, in 1984 the Journal of the International Association of
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Arson Investigators published a lengthy two-part report that
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found possible prosaic explanations for the best known cases of
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that bizarre, gruesome, and seemingly inexplicable phenomenon
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known as spontaneous human combustion. In other words, the best
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evidence now suggests that you can't spontaneously ignite.
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Through the years many medical experts and forensic
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pathologists have dismissed spontaneous human combustion as an
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impossibility, but there has always remained enough documented
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cases and evidence for a smouldering controversy.
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There exist about two dozen modern cases where a claim involving
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spontaneous human combustion has been made.
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The best-documented modern case is that of Mrs. Mary Reeser, a
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67-year-old widow who died in 1951. Her remains were discovered
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in her bedroom within a blackened circle on the floor about four
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feet in diameter. This case was unusual because the fire had no
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apparent cause and a pile of newspapers less than a foot away
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bore no signs of scorching.
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There are several peculiarities to the alleged cases of
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spontaneous human combustion. First, the torso, even including
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the bones, were often reduced to a greasy ash, while the
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extremities, particularly the legs, were often spared. Secondly,
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the victims were elderly, obese, and alcoholic.
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The fact that almost all of the victims were alcoholic led some
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early theorists, including members of the temperance movement,
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to suggest that alcohol-impregnated tissues were rendered highly
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combustible.
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This theory, however, was disputed by scientists who pointed out
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that a person would die of alcohol poisoning long before imbibing
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enough alcohol to have any effect on the body's flammability.
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A more plausible explanation, however, suggests that the victims
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were so impaired by alcohol that they were unable or very slow to
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react when they started to burn.
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A recent two-year investigation by Dr. Joe Nickell, a private
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detective and Dr. John Fisher, a forensic analyst with the crime
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laboratory of the Orange County Sheriff's Office in Orlando,
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Florida revealed even more significant correlations behind the
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thirty most significant spontaneous human combustion cases.
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Nickell and Fisher found that in those instances where the
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destruction of the body was relatively minimal, the only
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significant fuel source seems to have been the individual's
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clothes, but where the destruction was considerable, additional
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fuel sources - chair stuffing, wooden flooring, floor covering,
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and so on augmented the combustion. Such materials under the body
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appear also to have helped retain melted fat that flowed from the
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body and then volatilized and burned, destroying more of the body
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and yielding still more liquefied fat to continue the burning
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process.
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In the cases that Nickell and Fisher researched they always found
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plausible sources of ignition - proximate candles, cigarettes,
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lamps, fireplaces, etc. This sort of evidence would seem to
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demonstrate an external rather than an internal source of
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ignition.
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The 92-year-old pipe-smoking Dr. Bentley frequently dropped
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burning ashes. This was evident from the many burns found on his
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bedroom rug. Evidently he tried to make his way into the bathroom
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with his walker in a futile attempt to extinguish his burning
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robe. His robe was found smoldering in the bathtub.
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Or in the case of the aforementioned Mrs Reeser: She was last
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seen sitting in an overstuffed chair wearing a nightgown and
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housecoat and was smoking a cigarette. In addition, she had told
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her son that she had taken two sleeping pills.
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The poor woman probably fell asleep in her chair and the burning
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ashes fell on her chair and ignited, but they only smoldered,
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which is not unusual. Smoldering heat can consume entire pieces
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of furniture without any flames breaking out.
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Nickell and Fisher also found that the fire did spread in Mrs
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Reeser's apartment. An adjacent end table and lamp were destroyed
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and a ceiling beam had to be extinguished when firemen arrived.
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The floor was untouched because it was made of concrete.
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Nickell and Fisher found that the proponents of spontaneous human
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combustion often omitted such important details in their
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published accounts. After all, you can make a mystery out of
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anything by leaving out half the facts.
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