# Too much fat in the Crematorium sets it on fire.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-fat-in-the-crematorium-sets-it-on-fire/624227
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [June 6, 2012, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-fat-in-the-crematorium-sets-it-on-fire/624227 "2012-06-06T01:16:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 18
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2012, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-fat-in-the-crematorium-sets-it-on-fire/624227/1 "2012-06-06T01:16:39Z")
Ever fry pork chops and get a flash fire?
Same thing happened in a Crematorium with a rather obese lady. Interesting that the article mentions some countries have special crematoriums for the extremely morbidly obese.
Ok, it’s the Daily Mail. But who would dream up a story like this? The dead cat helicopter was real.
> [@](#):
>
> Austrian crematorium officials have blamed a deceased woman’s obesity for causing a blaze which had to be tackled by firefighters.
>
> Firemen in the southern city of Graz were covered in thick sticky soot as they tried to prevent the blaze from taking hold of the building.
>
> The case has been widely reported in Austrian media, including in the ORF - the country’s equivalent of our BBC - and has ignited calls for a weight limit on bodies to protect against future fires.
>
> Read more: [Dead obese woman had so much body fat she set the building on fire during her cremation | Daily Mail Online](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2154897/Dead-obese-woman-body-fat-set-building-cremation.html#ixzz1wyIgJsuv)
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2012, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-fat-in-the-crematorium-sets-it-on-fire/624227/2 "2012-06-06T01:23:56Z")
dead Cat helicopter thread. Geez this is a week full of weird news stories. 😉
> **[Catcopter (not for the faint of heart)](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=654066)**
>
> Taxidermied cat with propellers. Really.
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### Author:  [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2012, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-fat-in-the-crematorium-sets-it-on-fire/624227/3 "2012-06-06T01:34:50Z")
And to think they said you need to exercise to burn fat.
This could be a great solution to the energy crisis though - I bet burning her body could have powered a small village in Africa for a year.
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### Author:  [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-fat-in-the-crematorium-sets-it-on-fire/624227/4 "2012-06-06T03:23:17Z")
I had to do a double-take when I read the title, since a crematorium is supposed to be on fire, so to speak.
Also, the article is sort of confusing with regards to the temperature; 300C isn’t that hot at all when you are dealing with burning a body (in the heading; the article itself says it was the filter/exhaust temperature).
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2012, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-fat-in-the-crematorium-sets-it-on-fire/624227/5 "2012-06-06T06:14:56Z")
My first thought was those disgusting diet infomercials where they show you a 5 lb block of fat. Or worse the fat container after liposuction. Yeah, that would make one heck of a heat source in a furnace. You could burn a candle off that block of blubber for years. Now, imagine the fat in a 400 lb human. That’s like throwing a whole case of motor oil in there. The fire will be intense.
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### Author:  [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2012, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-fat-in-the-crematorium-sets-it-on-fire/624227/6 "2012-06-06T06:34:00Z")
Maybe a switch to an outdoor pyre would be warranted, for people over the weight limit. That’d be kinda cool. I’m fat and I want to be cremated, but I don’t want to burn down a building in the process.
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### Author:  [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2012, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-fat-in-the-crematorium-sets-it-on-fire/624227/7 "2012-06-06T07:24:30Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#):
>
> And to think they said you need to exercise to burn fat.
>
> This could be a great solution to the energy crisis though - I bet burning her body could have powered a small village in Africa for a year.
[Exxon has it covered](http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2007/06/15/vivoleum-is-people/)
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### Author:  [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2012, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-fat-in-the-crematorium-sets-it-on-fire/624227/8 "2012-06-06T13:35:16Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#):
>
> I bet burning her body could have powered a small village in Africa for a year.
Or incinerated it.
Of course the flaming Halo-jump might have been problematic…
“Gaaaaaaaaaah…!”
_Thud!_
_ **FWOOSH!** _
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### Author:  [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2012, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-fat-in-the-crematorium-sets-it-on-fire/624227/9 "2012-06-06T13:38:33Z")
I feel sorry for the firefighters, who were all covered in nasty greasy soot. Getting dirty is part of the job, but it’s not usually a person that’s the source of the soot.
Crematorim fires are unfortunately not rare with the “first world” epidemic of obesity, but [some newer cremators](http://www.uscremationequipment.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61:faq&catid=46:faqs&Itemid=72) are designed to handle bodies up to 800 pounds without incident. :eek:
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### Author:  [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-fat-in-the-crematorium-sets-it-on-fire/624227/10 "2012-06-06T14:29:43Z")
Well, the fat’s in the fire now…
> [@Rigamarole](#):
>
> This could be a great solution to the energy crisis though
[Actually, no.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3038/is-excess-american-body-fat-a-potential-energy-resource)
I will selflessly volunteer all my excess body fat for energy production purposes, but I know it’s a drop in the bucket compared to our energy usage. Maybe if we liposuctioned out the fat and annihilated it with antimatter… that would be pretty cool, too. I’m willing to volunteer my fat, all I’m asking is that whoever wants it pay to get it out of me and to them. And that, if something cool like antimatter or black holes is involved, I get to watch (with suitable radiation protection, of course).
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### Author:  [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-fat-in-the-crematorium-sets-it-on-fire/624227/11 "2012-06-06T14:44:46Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#):
>
> [Actually, no.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3038/is-excess-american-body-fat-a-potential-energy-resource)
>
> I will selflessly volunteer all my excess body fat for energy production purposes, but I know it’s a drop in the bucket compared to our energy usage. Maybe if we liposuctioned out the fat and annihilated it with antimatter… that would be pretty cool, too. I’m willing to volunteer my fat, all I’m asking is that whoever wants it pay to get it out of me and to them. And that, if something cool like antimatter or black holes is involved, I get to watch (with suitable radiation protection, of course).
I meant that as a joke. Interesting column though.
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### Author:  [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-fat-in-the-crematorium-sets-it-on-fire/624227/12 "2012-06-06T15:51:22Z")
If I get too fat to be cremated in one blow, I authorize them to cut me in pieces first.
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### Author:  [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2012, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-fat-in-the-crematorium-sets-it-on-fire/624227/13 "2012-06-07T01:52:38Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#):
>
> And to think they said you need to exercise to burn fat.
>
> This could be a great solution to the energy crisis though - I bet burning her body could have powered a small village in Africa for a year.
The only way human fat is going to solve the energy crisis is if it is burned while walking or riding a bicycle.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2012, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-fat-in-the-crematorium-sets-it-on-fire/624227/14 "2012-06-07T07:12:15Z")
> [@zagloba](#):
>
> If I get too fat to be cremated in one blow, I authorize them to cut me in pieces first.
You could arrive at the funeral in a collection of mini-coffins, linked together like jigsaw puzzle pieces.
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### Author:  [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2012, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-fat-in-the-crematorium-sets-it-on-fire/624227/15 "2012-06-07T13:21:10Z")
> [@Mangetout](#):
>
> You could arrive at the funeral in a collection of mini-coffins, linked together like jigsaw puzzle pieces.
Perhaps, but the sound of a chainsaw coming from a funeral home at night might upset the neighbors…
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2012, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-fat-in-the-crematorium-sets-it-on-fire/624227/16 "2012-06-07T15:02:30Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#):
>
> Perhaps, but the sound of a chainsaw coming from a funeral home at night might upset the neighbors…
Not the proper tool for the job.
Be [professional](http://www.acitydiscount.com/Meat-Butcher-Band-Saw-78in-Blade-1HP-Motor-B25.0.42788.1.1.htm) about it.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2012, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-fat-in-the-crematorium-sets-it-on-fire/624227/17 "2012-06-08T04:34:29Z")
Imagine the _stench_.
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### Author:  [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2012, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-much-fat-in-the-crematorium-sets-it-on-fire/624227/18 "2012-06-08T05:13:52Z")
Man, the Nazis thought of everything, huh?