burns

The body of Alexander Morrison covered in slates from the roof which fell on top of his remains after the fire.

The body of Ginette Kazmierczak

Jeannie Saffin
The only known case of Spontaneous Human Combustion which was witnessed was that of Jeannie Saffin of London, England on September 15, 1982. Jeannie Saffin was 61 years of age but had the mental capabilities of a six year old and lived with her 82-year-old father, Jack Saffin. While in the kitchen, Jack noticed a bright flash out of the corner of his eye. Turning to Jeannie to ask if she had seen it as well as, Jack Saffin noticed his daughter was on fire, sitting perfectly still with her hands in her lap. Don Carroll, Jack’s son-in-law entered the house just in time to see Jeannie in flames. Jack and Don rushed her to the sink in an attempt to stop the fire from consuming her but it was too late. Jeannie went into a coma and died eight days later. The flesh on her face, hands and abdomen had entirely burnt away to the subcutaneous fat. Don Carrol claims he saw flames coming from Jeannie’s mouth and said she was “roaring like a dragon” although no burns were found in Jeannie’s mouth. While perhaps Mr. Carroll was exaggerating just a bit, many instances of supposed spontaneous combustion witnessed in the 1400s-1600s claim similar phenomenon. One example is the case of Polonus Vortius, a knight in Milan, France who died sometime between 1468-1503 during the reign of Queen Bona Sforza. The parents of Polonus Vortius claimed he drank “two ladles of strong wine” then vomited fire and was consumed by the flames. At the time of Jeannie Saffin’s death the only source of ignition was the pilot light in the gas stove. On the day of the incident, she was wearing nylon which investigators blame for her death. Jack Saffin had earlier emptied the ashes from his pipe before reloading it with fresh tobacco. Investigators theorized an ember fell on Jeannie, remained there for quite some time as Jack reloaded his pipe, only later to set Jeannie’s clothes on fire when Don Carroll entered the house and a gust of wind stirred the ember. Technically this would be possible but it is a bit of a stretch to explain away the incident. Jeannie Saffin’s official cause of death was recorded by coroner, Dr. John Burton, as “broncho-pneumonia due to burns”, reportedly due only to the fact that when Jeannie’s family attempted to explain the spontaneous combustion they had witnessed, he replied “No such thing.”.
More recently, “Spontaneous Human Combustion” had been reported as an official cause of death.
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In 2013 a 9-day-old infant, “Baby Rahul”, made headlines when his mother, Rajeshwari Karnan admitted him to a local hospital in India to seek treatment for his burns which she claimed were caused by spontaneous combustion. Rahul was discovered lying in his bed, on fire, by a neighbor who heard the child’s screams. Professor R. Jayachandran, Rahul Karnan’s pediatrician believed his burns may have been caused by gasses expelling through his skin and theorized it may be a genetic condition. Twenty-five year old Rajeshwari has an older daughter, Narmatha, who has never suffered a believed instance of SHC. Since Rahul’s initial incident, Rajeshwari claims her son has spontaneously ignited on three other occasions. In January 2015 Rajeshwari Karnan admitted Rahul’s 10-day-old baby brother to Kilpauk Hospital in India after his feet supposedly caught fire while she was in the bath. The unnamed baby’s had burns covering 10% of his feet and had to spend over one month in the hospital recovering. The hospital was incredibly reluctant to release the newborn from the believing one of the parents, most likely Rajeshwari, was suffering from Munchausen by proxy syndrome and had set fire to her own children for attention. “Munchausen Moms”, mothers who harm their children to gain attention and sympathy (usually by way of slowly poisoning their children) have gained infamy in the past few decades as this mental illness which can affect either parent, but usually the mother, has seemingly become more widespread. Hospital dean Narayana Babu stated, “All tests reveal he [unnamed Baby Karnan] is completely normal. The parents went through psychiatric counselling and were found to be normal.”. The Karnans told reporters their community has ostracized them after the repeated burnings of their two children.

Frank Baker claims he has survived repeated instances of “partial spontaneous combustion” which he was diagnosed by a doctor. The doctor who supposedly diagnosed Frank with “partial spontaneous combustion” has never come forward or been mentioned by name. The first time Frank burst into flames, it was witnessed by a close friend. Frank claims he has spontaneously combusted three times since the initial incident. For several years, Frank Baker has been soliciting money for “Spontaneous Combustion Research”. I am not convinced, but here is his story in his own words.

Jack Angel is probably the most well-known survivor of SHC when in fact, he never experienced spontaneous combustion nor did he claim to. On November 12, 1974 Jack Angel was taking a shower in his mobile home in Savannah, Georgia when the water suddenly stopped flowing. When he went to check the water pressure, he was sprayed with scalding hot water. Jack Angel filed a civil-action suit in the Fulton County Superior Court over the burns which he received after being sprayed by the faulty water tank. Somehow, the accounts of this run-of-the-mill lawsuit has morphed into a wildly false story of surviving spontaneous human combustion. Today, people claim Jack Angel fell asleep on a water mattress and awoke to find a hole burnt in his stomach but his clothing intact. During the lawsuit with the water mattress company a doctor confirmed at the trial that Jack Angel had burned from the inside out.
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If you enjoyed this article, you might also like Evidence Suggests Spontaneous Human Combustion is a Reality, A Witness to Spontaneous Human Combustion and Other Stories of SHC, Cause of Death: Spontaneous Human Combustion and Other Stories of SHC and Children Who Remember Dying in Terrorist Attacks in their Past-Life