Burn, Baby, Burn: Understanding the Wick Effect

Last month a BBC news story made the Internet rounds, with a somewhat sensational headline declaring the “first Irish case of death” by spontaneous human combustion (SHC). The badly burnt body of a 76-year-old man was found in his Galway home on December 22, 2010, lying on his back with his head close to an open fireplace. There was no trace of accelerant, no evidence of foul play, and “forensic experts” concluded that the fire in the fireplace hadn’t caused the blaze.

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Burn, Baby, Burn: Understanding the Wick Effect