Combustion of animal fat and its implications for the consumption of humanbodies in fires

This paper describes experiments in which the combustion of animal tissue ( pork) was measured under a variety of conditions that may be encountered in fire scenes. Combustion depends on substantial preheating of the tissue by an external heat source and the availability of a porous wick (such as cha rred cellulosic material). Combustion of moderate-size samples can proceed at a moderate rate of 1-3 g/s (3.6-10.8 kg/hr) if provided with an adequate wick and results in only a small fire of 30-50 kW. In the final test, comb ustion of 26 kg of fat and skin created a fire of 120-130 kW. Such a fire i s more likely to cause fire spread to ether combustibles nearby. The presen ce of other, less efficient fuels (like skin and muscle) and the absence of large fuel masses (such as in the very lean pig carcasses used here) resul ts in significantly smaller fires of 40-50 kW. Such fires are more typical of burning human remains when there are minimal contributions from other fu els.