3 ms·

I lack the information to assert the point in time the last witness observed the victims while they were still alive, but it seems as if you do.

• Retric 7y ago
  I am not suggesting they needed to be dead for a long time and fully dried out. “Almost all postulated cases of SHC involve persons with low mobility due to advanced age or obesity, along with poor health.[14] Victims show a high likelihood of having died in their sleep, or of being unable to move once they had caught fire.” “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.” For details: https://artcmr.com/Fire-ex/assets/combustion-of-animal-fat-and-its-implications-for-the-consum2.pdf https://artcmr.com/Fire-ex/assets/combustion-of-animal-fat-a... In other words a dead or effectively immobile person plus external ignition source could look like the human was what caught fire. Rather than a small external fire slowly consuming a body over a considerable amount of time. Further, several similar though slightly different means may be involved.
  • ryacko 7y ago
    >”Almost all How do you go from explaining ~95% to explaining 100% and thus saying nothing is unexplained?
    • Retric 7y ago
      Some cases that are called spontaneous human combustion are something else and the person doing the categorization made a mistake. For example, 3rd degree burns due to their clothing / bed sheets catching fire but the body is not consumed by the fire.