Obesity and Cremation: An Explosive Combination

Jun 10, 2012 | 0 comments

Did you hear about the 440 pound woman whose body fat set off a grease fire in a cremation retort in Austria? It’s all over the funeral director chat rooms.

Her copious amount of body fat caused the fire inside the crematorium, and resulted in clouds of smoke billowing out of the building after the filter mechanisms failed to stand up to the job. Firemen had to rush to the scene in Graz, Austria, where they were confronted by thick black, greasy, sooty smoke.

The device was immediately switched off but by then there was already a fire in the filter. The fire fighters eventually extinguished the blaze by aiming water through the vents which are used to clear the filters of the cremation oven.

If you needed a reason to lose weight, this story may help steel your resolve.

Here’s the story from the Daily Mail Online in the U.K. Lots of droll commentary follows the story.

A Good Goodbye