# Spontaneous Human Waste Combustion **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 6, 2000, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-human-waste-combustion/39930 "2000-11-06T13:07:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spritle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Spritle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spritle)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-human-waste-combustion/39930/1 "2000-11-06T13:07:45Z")
First, let me apologize if I’ve missed some sort of protocol regarding number of posts required before one can start a thread. Perhaps there is a set of unwritten rules, I copy of which I did not receive upon registration, that may or may not outline such requirements. [O.K., Spritle, your point is…? - ed.] Right, I was emptying out the 'ole Diaper Genie ™ the other night. (Interesting invention - so simple, yet so functional. I could live without it, yet I wouldn’t want to.) [Uh, Spritle…? - ed.] Sorry, so I’m emptying out the DG™ when I noticed that the older diapers (maybe 5 days old or so) were warm to the touch (through the plastic ‘sausage’ - don’t be gross). With a bit of thought, I realized that this wasn’t just a storage issue. No, the warmth didn’t come from the fact that the waste originally came from a 98.6 F (37 C) body. (being about 5 days, it would have cooled to room temp.) No, this crap (literally) was COMPOSTING!!! I’ve heard of compost heaps smouldering until they burst into flames. Is this possible with the fillings of a diaper? Should I worry that my son’s DG™ will explode and burn his room (and maybe him)? My question to you… what is the flash point of human waste? ---
**Author:** ![Spritle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Spritle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spritle)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-human-waste-combustion/39930/2 "2000-11-06T13:26:13Z")
oops, spelled “combustion” incorrectly in the title. so-sor. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-human-waste-combustion/39930/3 "2000-11-06T15:56:52Z")
Now that you’ve mastered the spelling of “combustion”, can you help me out with the word “regurgitation”? Because that’s what I’m experiencing right now. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be a prick, but hot baby poop in a sausage casing doesn’t exactly fill my head with images of lilacs and violets. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-human-waste-combustion/39930/4 "2000-11-06T16:21:51Z")
[http://www.newsnet5.com/sh/entertainment/weirdnews/stories/natlphae-weirdnews--20000717-203303.html](http://www.newsnet5.com/sh/entertainment/weirdnews/stories/natlphae-weirdnews--20000717-203303.html) has this to report: > [@](#): > > **Flaming Dirty Diaper Blamed For Fire** > > Diaper Left In Plastic Sack Spontaneously Combusted > > ENNIS, Texas, Updated 12:55 p.m. EDT July 19, 2000 – It’s a dirty job, and firefighters had to do it. > > A soiled diaper is blamed for a residential fire in Texas. > > Nobody was hurt in the blaze at the Townhouse Apartments in Ennis. Sunday’s fire caused about $3,000 in damage. > > Fire Captain Gary Howell talked with a resident and found that the dirty diaper had been put in a plastic sack and placed outside on a plastic chair on the patio for several days. > > The sack was in the full sun in the 100-plus-degree temperatures. > > Howell said that the right combination of fuel and air conditions can create a fire. > > Howell told the Ennis Daily News that he believes that the diaper ignited and caught the chair on fire. ---
**Author:** ![Skelji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Skelji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skelji)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-human-waste-combustion/39930/5 "2000-11-06T16:31:31Z")
Um, 5 days worth of baby crap??? Cripes, I live out in the country and they pick up trash twice a week. 5 days worth of dirty diapers? You got a diaper pail or a dumpster in your house? You might try rubbing the Diaper Genie and wishing for it to empty itself out more often. ---
**Author:** ![Spritle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Spritle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spritle)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-human-waste-combustion/39930/6 "2000-11-06T18:35:17Z")
Johnny L.A., Dire Wolf, HOLY SHIT! (that has nothing to do with the Pope) I’m gonna’ empty that thing out e’ry day!! [insert fecal joke here] ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-human-waste-combustion/39930/7 "2000-11-06T18:43:57Z")
Oh wise and powerful diaper genie! Man, I love that thing. There’s nothing you get sick of quicker than that nasty diaper smell. I swear, we used to put them in ziplock bags and put them outside and you could still smell ‘em. Maybe my kids just had stinky shit, or maybe I was imagining it, but with my third child we got the good ol’ DG and boy, did that thing work. Stick a diaper in the magic hole, twist a few times and: voila! No diaper smell or sight. Not to mention that pillar o’ diapers only had to be emptied about once a week or so. Granted, the sausage form is pretty gross to think about, but it’s better than a bag ripping open to spew diaper detritus forth all over the place. BTW, [here’s](http://www.4yourbaby.com/images/diaper_genie.gif) the DG, for those who have never seen it. ---
**Author:** ![Tabithina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@Tabithina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabithina)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-human-waste-combustion/39930/8 "2000-11-06T19:16:11Z")
My son had his first baby cereal yesterday. While he was just nursing, the poop diapers weren’t _too_ bad, but his latest creation was pretty pungent. I’m going to get a diaper genie ASAP. I’ve decided we need one after all! I’ll empty it daily; the thought of a flaming dirty diaper gives me chills :eek:.