For as yet scientifically unknown reasons, times occur when an unsuspecting person can just burst into flames and be incinerated. This is referred to in the scientific world as Spontaneous Human Combustion or SHC. There are many documented cases throughout history. The earliest cases go as far back as the early 16th century. Then there are the ones that are as recent as 1998 but have no better explanation of what happen then the ones in the 16th century did. There are truly only two types of cases: fatal and non-fatal. The fatal cases of SHC represent three-quarters of all the reported incidents. The most common of these cases is the famous "bedroom burnings" in which a victim is found as a pile of ashes with only limbs remaining. These burnings a characterized by five main features: 1) The victim’s body and clothing is mostly reduced to ash. 2) Small portions of the body (an arm, a foot, maybe the head) remain unburned. 3) Only objects immediately associated with the body have burned; the fire never spread away from the body. 4) A greasy soot deposit covers the ceiling and walls, usually stopping three to four feet above the floor. 5) Objects above this three to four foot line show signs of heat damage (melted candles, cracked mirrors, etc.); objects below this line show o damage. These cases are the ones that mass media tend to cover most and is what most people think of when they hear about spontaneous human combustion. Nearly half of the cases are "bedroom burnings" Another common case under the fatal category are the witnessed combustions, in which people are actually seen by witnesses to burst into flames. Most of the time witnesses claim that there was no other source of ignition and/or the flames were seen to come directly from the victim’s skin. These cases present the fact that maybe SHC has more to do with the supernatural than science. Unfortunately, most of theses cases are poorly documented and usually unconfirmed. The second major type of SHC is the non-fatal cases. The victims usually don’t know anymore than the investigators do. The good thing about this is that the victims are alive to tell about what happened and cause most SHC skeptics to take a look at the picture again. Non-fatal cases usually incorporate one or more of the following features. The most common is the mysterious flames. This is where a victim will just begin to emit flames form their body.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire not only affected the city of New York, but also the rest of the country. It forever changed the way our country would look at safety regulations in factories and buildings. The fire proved to America what can and will happen if we over-look safety regulations and over-crowd buildings. Unfortunately, 146 lives are taken before we fully understand this concept.
Peige, John D., editor, Fire in Beverly Hills Supper Club Kills 162, Fire Protection Publications, International Fire Service Training Association, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, Aug. 1977. Internet resource.
For the first phenomena, he noted how all combustions involved the formation of fire or light. With that in mind, Lavoisier also observed that this combustion occurs only through dephlogisticated air / pure air. Other airs (e.g. carbon dioxide) act as a fire extinguisher similar to that of water. Another combustion phenomenon he outlined was how the weight of the burnt material directly relates to the amount of air used in the reaction. Moreover, he also described how certain substances turn into acids after it has been burn...
...aced involuntary manslaughter. The name of the firefighters that were killed are Tom Craven 30, Devin weaver 21, Jessica Johnson 19, and Karen Fitzpatrick 18.
The medico-legal autopsy report should be as detailed as possible so as not to miss even the slightest of findings, which may later play a big role in determining the case, hence standardized autopsy procedures as well as autopsy protocols have been devised.
In Corsicana, Texas Cameron Willingham and his family’s home was burned down the twenty-third of December is 1991. According to the report Cameron was asleep when the fire started and survived the accident with only a few injuries, as for his children they were not so lucky, they lost their lives to the tragic accident. At the time of the accident Cameron’s wife was buying presents for their children for Christmas. According to a witness and her Daughter Diane and Buffie from a few houses down went outside and saw Cameron screaming, “My babies are burning up!” Diane and Cameron tried countless attempts to rescue the girls from their room until the fire department could get there. According to the New Yorker “The house, in short, had been deliberately transformed onto a death trap.” According to the reports on December twenty-fourth and twenty-seventh of 1991 the fire was declared arson and they later decided to conduct a criminal investigation. Cameron was questioned by the investigators on December 31st and was then later arrested on January 8th of 1992 for the death his three daughters.
Some may believe the SHC phenomenon has only been around for the past few decades but "...spontaneous human combustion (SHC) began to appear in medical reports as far back as t...
Paranormal activity better known as parapsychology is a non-fictional idea. Parapsychology is the scientific study of interactions between living organisms and their external environment that seem to transcend the known physical laws of nature. (Teresi, 2000) The Society of Psychical Research was established in London in 1882 (Teresi, 2000). Major parapsychological studies had not begun appearing in mainstream scientific journals until the sixties and early seventies (Teresi, 2000).“Furthermore, groups such as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) which publishes the Skeptical Inquirer and the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) have been formed to disseminate credible information on the paranormal. Credibility should be less of a problem in the future” (Teresi, 2000).
The staggering number of fatalities can be attributed mainly to the proximity of the pyrotechnics to flammable sound insulating foam, overcrowding of the facility, and the lack of sprinkler system (Graybill, 2003, para. 1). It is tragic to have any loss of life; however, it is more tragic when lives are lost carelessly.
Survival studies – this are cases of conscious survival outside of the human body, near death experiences, apparitions and hauntings.
Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the most frequent cause of death between 1 month and 1 year of age (Naeye). SIDS is defined as the sudden death of any infant or young child that is unexpected by it’s history, and in which a thorough postmortem examination fails to determine an adequate cause (Hunt 1987). It is important to consider both aspects of this definition in order not to ‘overdiagnose’ SIDS. A mistake of this nature would occur with failure to report a previous history of seizures, or if at the time of the autopsy a differentiation between suffocation due to rebreathing and SIDS was not made (Kemp 1993). One of the major characteristics of SIDS is that of ‘silent death’, which occurs during a sleep period. The majority of SIDS cases are between 1-6 months, with the peak occurrence being between 2-4 months. Boys are affected more often than girls (Becker, 1990).
Burns are caused by many different factors. Heat burns are caused by fire, steam, hot objects, electricity, ultraviolet rays and hot liquids (Living With Burn Trauma). According to “Prevention,” an online article, the “Leading causes of fire and burn death and injury for older adults are smoking, cooking, scalds, electrical, and heating.” When one is burned, a instinct called “fight or flight” catalyzes. “Fight or Flight” causes one’s breathing and pulse to increase. When this happens, their adrenal glands release a hormone that causes pain to diminish causing some to vaguely remember their accident (Living With Burn Trauma). Many times because a victim begins to breathe rapidly, they can experience respiratory complications from the burns often resulting in respiratory failure (“First Aid and Emergencies”).
which is actually hot, like fire, makes something which is potentially hot, like wood, to
...r it is arson, an uncontrolled camp fire, or a cigarette butt it doesn’t take much for humans to spark a disaster. Yet there is as well a few set by good old Mother Nature. On top of the effects on the earth as well as humans, there is only one thing we all can do and that is listen to our old pal Smokey the Bear when he says, “only you can prevent wildfire.”
There is also an incomplete combustion, meaning it is burned in an air lacking oxygen. If the oxygen is not enough, the carbons turn to carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is very harmful to living organisms.