Question by : Babypunk - "Explain sudden combustion on human"
This is Johny Blaze from Fantastic Four...
the Human Torch, not sudden combustion victims...
Sudden Combustion or more popular by Spontaneous Human Combustion (SHC) is a phenomenon when human's body suddenly ignited and burned by itself from within, without being contact with any igniting source. This is also a rare case in medical world, makes it harder to find scientific explanation to this phenomenon (yes, phenomenon is a right term because nothing scientific could explain it). Many said that it was mystical, others said about biological and many blind guesses.
I've gathered some information about SHC, but i must tell you first, none of these theories gonna be more right than the others, as mentioned before this is a rare cases, and most of the victims are burned down to ashes, left no evidence to be investigated.
SHC, How It Happen
Where does the flame that lights these people on fire come from? Skeptical theory said that the victim ignite unconsiously with a cigarette or electrical shock, and their fat then burns slowly like a candle. Others insist that the ignition comes from within the victim, not an external source. Some say spirits, poltergeists, or demons are to blame. One intriguing theory suggests that geomagnetic activity is responsible for SHC.
But there is a good explanation for this phenomenon. It is called the wick effect. The clothing of victims can act as a wick, while their body fat serves as a source of fuel (like an inside-out candle). The burning of the clothes is maintained by liquified fat wicked from the body of the victim, causing a slow burn that can nearly consume the victim and resulting in the greasy brown substance often coating nearby walls.
Static effect from our clothes and linens are a good source of igniters
It is believed that the victims have, consciously or unconsciously, approached an igniting medium that caused their clothes to burst into flames. After this, the burning clothes transmit the fire to the fatty tissues in the victim's body and this is how the combustion occurs. Human body fat, in fact make a good fuel. If heated sufficiently (and able to come out of the body), it could certainly burn quite well.
The second type of theories are supported by scientists that have showed that there is enough methane gas inside our intestines to lead to a fire, while the source of fire could consist in the active enzymes (proteins that speed up the chemical processes in our bodies). As we may know that our digestive systems produced enough gas in the guts as the result of digestion process. This gas is usually flammable.
The Possible Victim
In cases of “spontaneous” combustion, the victims are often overweight, and therefore have plenty of fuel for the fire from the body fat. Remember, body fat is a natural "fuel" so it didn't close the chance it could happen also to thin people. The classic profile of the victim is an overweight, older, single, alcoholic woman, who is a smoker. Older person, drunk person, or people who taking sedative medicine is more likely to be victim, therefore they might be unable to stop a fire once it started. Survivors of spontaneous human combustion will ordinarily report no heat-pain.
The Victim's Condition
Usually only a small pile of ashes remains with one or two extremities, such as a leg from the knee down and the end of the arms, it explained by the wick effect because the burned parts are most likely covered with clothes. If the head remains it may be "shrunken" down to the size of an orange. There is usually no odor or a sweet odor. The air usually is thick with smoke or soot. The flame from the body is generally blue, but is occasionally yellow.
the illustration of victim's condition, based on case report
The Environments
Most of the SHC case, the victim found burned down, often objects even a short distance from the victim are unharmed by fire, even nearby furniture remains largely unaffected by the heat and flame, and in many cases, the very bed or chair in which the victim was seated survives the event with little damage. However, fuel such as wax or oil-based things near the victim vanishes.
The case caused by the burning out of the victims occurred only indoors, never outdoors, happened in a small, closed room with insufficient air circulation. In a closed room a fire will quickly use up the oxygen, reducing the flames to burn slowly in an embers. This is why firefighters do not simply burst into closed rooms in a fire – the sudden rush of oxygen can cause these embers to flare. But if left undisturbed for hours, these fires can consume a body without the flames spreading.
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