Man died by spontaneous combustion: coroner

trippytaka · 26-09-2011, 05:41 PM

Seriously

"no other explanation for it"

OMG. I am tingling.

Believe it, or not?

If the Coroner etc can't find any other reason for it... phwar!

http://www.smh.com.au/world/strangeb...926-1ksm4.html

Quote:

An Irish pensioner found burnt to death at his home died from spontaneous human combustion, an inquest has concluded.

The West Galway coroner, Ciaran McLoughlin, said there was no other adequate explanation for the death of Michael Faherty, 76, also known as Micheal O Fatharta.

He said it was the first time in his 25 years as a coroner that he had returned such a verdict.

A police crime scene investigator and a senior fire officer told the inquest in Galway they could not explain how Mr Faherty burnt to death.

Both said they had not come across such a set of circumstances before.

The assistant chief fire officer, Gerry O'Malley, said fire officers were satisfied that an open fire in Mr Faherty's fireplace had not been the cause of the blaze.

No trace of an accelerant was found at the scene, and there was no sign that anyone else had entered or left the house in Ballybane, Galway city.

The inquest heard that a smoke alarm in the home of Faherty's neighbour Tom Mannion had gone off about 3am on December 22 last year.

Mr Mannion said he went outside and saw heavy smoke coming from Mr Faherty's house.

He banged on the front door but got no response, and then banged on the door of another neighbour.

Police and the fire brigade arrived quickly at the scene.

Officer Gerard O'Callaghan said he went to the house after the fire had been extinguished and found Mr Faherty lying on his back in a sitting room, with his head closest to the fireplace. The rest of the house had sustained only smoke damage.

Mr O'Callaghan told the coroner that the only damage was to Mr Faherty's remains, the floor under him and the ceiling above.

The inquest heard that fire officers had been unable to determine the cause or the origin of the fire.

The state pathologist, Professor Grace Callagy, noted in her post-mortem findings that Mr Faherty had type 2 diabetes and hypertension, but concluded he had not died from heart failure.

His body had been extensively burnt and, because of the extensive damage to the organs, it was not possible to determine the cause of death.

The coroner said: "This fire was thoroughly investigated and I'm left with the conclusion that this fits into the category of spontaneous human combustion, for which there is no adequate explanation."

Guardian News & Media

BHDOGS · 26-09-2011, 05:48 PM

ive been doing some smelly farts latley this could spell trouble

mad-xa · 26-09-2011, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BHDOGS

ive been doing some smelly farts latley this could spell trouble

methane open flame maybe lol

Road_Warrior · 26-09-2011, 06:07 PM

Quote:

The state pathologist, Professor Grace Callagy, noted in her post-mortem findings that Mr Faherty had type 2 diabetes and hypertension, but concluded he had not died from heart failure.

His body had been extensively burnt and, because of the extensive damage to the organs, it was not possible to determine the cause of death.

Those two statements are contradictory, he didn't die from heart failure, but his organs were too badly damaged to tell?? Umm, hello...

pottery beige · 26-09-2011, 06:40 PM

i call bs.... didnt happen..... the whole article screams of generic names and fluffy bs...

geckoGT · 26-09-2011, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

Those two statements are contradictory, he didn't die from heart failure, but his organs were too badly damaged to tell?? Umm, hello...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baby_phantom

There not illegal lol you can buy them from any supplement store

Evidence of heart failure can be found in the extremities such as blood vessels in the legs, skin condition, swelling of the feet etc.

Mickxr8 · 26-09-2011, 08:31 PM

Sort of puts a new spin on "heartburn" lol

Franco Cozzo · 26-09-2011, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mickxr8

Sort of puts a new spin on "heartburn" lol

ZING!

Quote:

Originally Posted by geckoGT

Evidence of heart failure can be found in the extremities such as blood vessels in the legs, skin condition, swelling of the feet etc.

Being involved in that field, I'm curious how you guys can pick up that someones had a heart attack through blood tests, ecg and all that other stuff you do? Does your body let out some signs besides obviously the person reacting in a bad way?

geckoGT · 26-09-2011, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Damo

ZING!

Being involved in that field, I'm curious how you guys can pick up that someones had a heart attack through blood tests, ecg and all that other stuff you do? Does your body let out some signs besides obviously the person reacting in a bad way?

Dead cardiac muscle from the heart attack becomes electrically inert and therefore we can see the changes in electrical conduction on ECG. Damaged cardiac muscle releases enzymes into the blood stream during the breakdown of the cellular walls which can be detected with blood tests, quite simple really.

95frd · 26-09-2011, 09:48 PM

its been a long time since ive heard this spontaneous human combustion theory.
many years ago i bought a big box of mixed old books at a garage sale (in sydney)
there were many nature,learning, doctors books ,autopsy books etc ,..
the books i found very interesting were ones relating to this 'spontaneous human combustion' .
the photo's they showed were real life actual deaths from this .?
not sure if i believe it can hapen .
but ive seen /heard stranger things ..

dave .

Racecraft · 26-09-2011, 10:13 PM

so the fire was hot enough to boil his blood (100+) and incenerate him but localise the flame to a small local area.

meh.... nothing more than a spark and a wick effect......

we all burn candles, and whilst the candle wax (or body fat/tissue in this case) continues to fuel the fire, a candle won't melt or combust the table it sits on. Only has a localised burn simulating as far as the wax will support it.

trippytaka · 27-09-2011, 09:24 AM

Yes but where did the fire come from?

No evidence of accellerant.

JPFS1 · 27-09-2011, 09:40 AM

a burning ember landing on his head?

And if he was new age Metro, there could have been all sorts of flamable hair product too? (providing the old guy had hair)

I call BS though.

robbiek · 27-09-2011, 11:59 AM

No BS....believe it or not, Ireland is full of people with generic names

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...304578285.html

The Irish Times is the main broadsheet of repute in Ireland. It is the the national paper of record and the only one accepted as valid to cite from in Law School etc.

If it's in there, it happened.

**Grunter** · 27-09-2011, 01:21 PM

I read "An Irish..." and though here we go!

Over 50% of a human body is water. Does water ignite?

GK · 27-09-2011, 01:56 PM

Maybe he was zapped by God?

GK

XRDeeze · 27-09-2011, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GK

Maybe he was zapped by God?

GK

lol really? that wouldnt make him a very nice person *shakes head* :/

fmc351 · 27-09-2011, 02:01 PM

I recall a doco years ago which explained it was not possible. There are events in history where cases have seemed to be spontaneous combustion, but turn out to be like someone said above, wick effect. The open fire seems a likely suspect as the source, and clothing etc as the first thing to catch alight. Generally the person is overwhelmed by some type of fumes prior to them catching alight, or too drunk to awaken before its too late.

What it appears we have is a coroner who has no idea how else to explain it. That doesnt make it true and a newspaper is simply reporting that finding.