Coroner says Irishman died of "spontaneous combustion:" Blarney?

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(CBS) What killed Michael Faherty? The 76-year-old retiree was found burned to death in his Galway, Ireland home on December 22, 2010, the Irish Herald reported. Since his body was burned but the rest of the house wasn't, investigators drew a surprising conclusion...

"I'm left with the conclusion that this fits into the category of spontaneous human combustion," coroner Dr. Kieran McLoughlin told the Herald. He said it was the first case he's ever seen in his 25 years on the job.

Spontaneous combustion? It sounds positively Dickensian - and indeed, Dickens wrote about a character who died from a mysterious blaze in "Bleak House."

Cut to 160 years later - is spontaneous human combustion real?

Dr. Joe Nickell, senior research fellow for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, called it a "bunch of blarney."

"Mainstream science has never validated one single case of this phenomenon," Nickell told CBS News.

Nickell is no fire scientist. He's just a PhD who's invested paranormal claims for the past three decades. He's even been asked to lecture on the topic for the New York State Academy of Fire Science (and boasts the certificate on his web site to prove it).

What does he think of this case if spontaneous combustion didn't kill Faherty?

This case is a classic presentation of supposed combustion cases, said Nickell, because historical records show victims are often elderly or infirmed, alone, and cases usually occur in cold weather with firing materials nearby. The Herald reported there was an open fire rumbling in his fireplace, but the fire chief ruled it didn't cause the fire, a ruling that took Nickell's "breath away."

"That's the profile - we're not finding young people surrounded by a crowd of athletes on the playing field burst into flames," he said. But that is precisely the misconception, according to Nickell - people who die from spontaneous human combustion don't burst into flames.

Nickell says in these cases, an ember from a fireplace or match may spark a victim's clothes or chair to catch on fire. The elder victim, unfortunately, might not realize it until it's too late.

Essentially humans' - or any animals' bodies - double as candle wicks, and fat serves as the candle's fuel. When the fireplace ember slowly burns into a person's clothes and skin, the body's fat will slowly burn like a candle. The individual - who's often alone - may not put the fire out before it's too late, and dies during the process. Perhaps the person dies from a heart attack, hits his head, passes out from the trauma - but regardless, the fat burns until there's not much left, said Nickell.

So when the coroner and police come to inspect the fire and only see a burnt body with no fire damage to other areas of the home, they point to spontaneous human combustion. But according to Nickell, the bodies are so destroyed from burning for hours, that a coroner can't possibly determine the cause of death.

"To say that we don't know what the cause of the fire was but its' spontaneous human combustion," Nickell opined, "Why don't we say it was a ghost playing with matches?"

[Lee Sanders]

No! Spontaneous combustion is impossible and anyone that says it happens is simply lying. To report a death as such is incompetence. The individual very likely was one of many military experiments worldwide that have been silenced. A internal incendiary device was set off designed to kill the subject and to remove, any evidence of any device ever removed.

[overworkeddoc]

No negative stereotypes of the Irish I see....

Instead of getting a rentaquote, why don't you go to a reputable paper's report:-

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0923/1224304578285.html

Another doctor once wrote:-
"Once you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

Dr McLoughlin is an experienced coroner and cites a Professor of Forensic Pathology.

Quit the "blarney" tag - it is insulting and patronising

[bluesky71]

I don't believe in spontaneous combustion. If a body burns, it must be caused by an external heat source, chemical interaction, or some other natural explanation. The human body otherwise does not burst into flames on its own. The situation in Ireland makes for an interesting story but, ultimately, it's just so much hokum.

[trigan1965]

Another weird article for CBS. Must be a REALLY dull news day. I wouldn't trust this Nickell guy as far as I could throw him. Spontaneous human combustion has been documented many times. I remember reading about a case of "almost" spontaneous human combustion years ago where a jet of flame came out of the abdomen of a man in surgery - witnessed, of course, by the doctors and nurses present. It's just a case of an extremely rare chemical reaction inside the body. The human body is, after all, a chemical heat factory. It's not all that surprising that there are rare cases of catastrophic malfunctions.

[bluesky71]

I strongly suspect your story about a jet of flame coming out of the body of a man in surgery was an urban legend.

[erasmus111]

"But according to Nickell, the bodies are so destroyed from burning for hours, that a coroner can't possibly determine the cause of death."

If the body burned for HOURS, then there would be more damage to the surrounding areas. It wouldn't just be to the body.

[busterdawggy]

Perhaps they only "simmered.":)

[MagnaCartaUK]

I read about this particular event here in our media, but this type of recorded phenomena goes back far earlier. There have been numerous documented cases. I remember the case of a college student in Manchester suffering a similar fate in the mid 1980s. She was said by witnesses to have a 'strange glowing light' above her shoulder. Such events go even further back, a lady in Ipswich, Suffolk, succumbed to 'spontaneous combustion' back in 1744. She was called Grace Pitt, and was said to have reduced to a 'carpet of cinders and ash'. There have been numerous cases down the years, strangely with just localized effects of burning, but it's something that requires further deep investigation. Without checking, I can't recall any cases being out-of-doors, so maybe that is significant. However, the exact cause may perhaps be associated with the body's electrical content, gases or vapours held within it, and arguably magnetism. As bones are also consumed by such 'internal' combustion, one's left to contemplate the enormous heat that must be generated. Perhaps the 'trigger' to S.C. may be excessive electrical activity in the brain continuing to increase that in the rest of the body, which some- how ignites gas and fat, but how specifically will require methodical and intricate scientific research - and patience.

[Montana5]

No question. Zapped by an alien mothership.

[gadfly65]

I thought I was on the CBS website but this seems to be the Weekly World News instead.

[amerilatino]

As much as Irish laddies drink, I wouldn't be surprised if the alcohol in his liver caught fire.