Emily Chan
Investigators did not find any substances used to aid the spread of a fire, and there was no evidence suggesting foul play. Finally, a coroner declared that Faherty’s cause of death was spontaneous human combustion.
The combustion events that popped up over the next few centuries transpired in mostly the same ways.
The fire would be contained to the person and their immediate surroundings. Scorch marks were usually found above and below the victim’s body but nowhere else, and the torso would be reduced to ashes.
Scientists believe that spontaneous human combustion is not possible and that there are logical explanations behind the phenomenon. Fires die out naturally when they run out of fuel. Their fuel, in this case, would be human body fat.
Additionally, fires tend to burn upward. They don’t really move horizontally, especially when contained in a room without any wind or air currents. So, it is not that unusual for a room to be left relatively untouched even when a body is badly burned.
But how did the fires start in the first place? Many of the victims who seemed to have died from spontaneous combustion were discovered sleeping near a fireplace or a lit cigarette and had consumed alcohol before their demise.
A large number of the victims were also elderly, which means they are more likely to suffer from a stroke or heart attack, causing them to drop a cigarette or knock over a candle. As a result, they may have already been dead when their bodies were burned.
