LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Spontaneous Combustion: Fires
built 141 days ago
Spontaneous combustion of coal had caused a stubborn fire in the starboard bunker in the aft corner of Boiler Room No. 6. Fireman J. Dilley testified before the American inquiry held by Senator Smith of Michigan[3] that he had been among 12 men assigned to fight this coal bunker fire. The coal on top of the bunker was wet, but the bottom of the pile was dry. The coal pile began to smolder. The fire was detected from its sulfurous odor during the ship's departure from Southampton on her maiden voyage. It is uncertain how long this fire had burned, but from testimony of surviving stokers at the inquiries, it appears that it burned for at least 72 hours.
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Spontaneous combustion is the occurrence of fire without application of an apparent heat source. In a hot dryer, oxidation of fabrics occurs more rapidly than at ambient temperatures. As oxidation proceeds, heat accumulates on the garments, faster than it can be dissipated. The net accumulation of heat continues until the critical surface temperature is reached. At this point the garments are ignited and burn.
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Spontaneous combustion in washery rejects has ... been a problem in with coal from certain seams. Washery rejects can be seen burning after many years in a number of locations in New South Wales. The extent of environmental impact of such reject fires however is less in potential than that from burning overburden, in that the rejects are normally more concentrated and not as extensive(and therefore more easily disposed of by deep burial) as overburden. Colliery rejects are also often able to be re-washed to obtain otherwise lost coal values, while at the same time reducing the propensity for spontaneous combustion.
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Though some incidents appear to be cases of spontaneous combustion in the ancient literature, the modern string of cases begins with the death of the Italian knight Polonus in 1470. A century and a half later, John Hillard tried to bring the issue before the public in his pamphlet Fire from Heaven (1613). The death of Nicole Millet, the wife of an innkeeper in Rheims, France, on February 20, 1725, led to the first court inquiry and ruling. In the middle of the night, Jean Millet awoke smelling fire. He awakened the inn's guests and together they found Nicole's body in the kitchen. All except her skull, a few vertebrae, and her lower extremities had been consumed.
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PARIS --- French police scientists are investigating their first suspected case of "spontaneous combustion"-- and elderly woman reduced to a small pile of ashes and a slippered foot while sitting at home in a wheel chair. The remains of Gisele, a 67-year old widow whose surname was not released, were discovered Nov,17 in the farmhouse near Honfleur where she lived alone. Police found no signs of a break-in and said the house itself appeared untouched by fire although the chair in which the woman apparantly had been sitting ... had been reduced to ashes and there were soot traces on the living room walls and ceiling. Her ankle and foot were found, the foot still in its slipper. Michel Savart, director of Lill's police laboratory said yesterday he had no idea what could have caused the fire. " We've never had a case of spontaneous combustion in France.
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Some alleged cases of SHC are cases of spontaneous combustion but they are explicable by natural means. For example, a chemical reaction on or in a person's clothing can result in spontaneous combustion. The National Geographic special, mentioned above, investigated a case of a woman whose clothes suddenly caught fire and burned the skin on her thigh. The most likely explanation is that she put a shell in her pocket that was covered in sodium from a fireworks show that had taken place on the beach where she had retrieved the shell. Later, she stuck a wet handkerchief in her pocket with the shell. The sodium may have reacted with the water, releasing hydrogen that self-ignited,* causing her burns.
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