Graz crematorium fire

Graz crematorium fire,Authorities in Graz, Austria, say a crematorium nearly burned down because a woman who was being cremated there was so obese that her body burned uncontrollably (has this happened often in other countries?). The blaze has led to residents of Graz calling for weight limits on people being cremated As you'll well know if you barbecue very often, fat is extremely flammable. Normally, the human body doesn't carry enough of the stuff for it to be a problem during cremation—but recently, an obese woman from Austria carried so much weight that her fat burnt strongly enough to set a crematorium ablaze.
The fat caused the fire inside the crematorium to reach 300C, resulting in clouds of smoke billowing out of the building when the filter mechanisms failed to stand up to the job. Firemen had to rush to the scence in Graz, Austria, where they were confronted by thick black smoke smoke which, in the words of the Daily Mail, left them "covered with a layer of sooty grease". Delightful. They eventually extinguished the fire by aiming water through the vents which are used to clear the filters of the cremation oven.


The woman in question weighed 440 pounds, and experts have claimed that it is definitely her size which caused the oven in which she was being cremated to overheat, as opposed to there being a fault. Most countries don't currently have an upper limit on weight or body size which is allowed to be cremated—but this incident could well change that. In fact, since the fire Austria and Switzerland are considering a ban on larger bodies being cremated.
Firemen whose clothing was left covered with a layer of sooty grease were snapped as they tackled the difficult to extinguish blaze in special breathing gear to avoid inhaling the fumes
Some countries such as Switzerland and the UK already have facilities which cater for extra large bodies, in line with the growing trend of expanding waistlines.
Speaking to the Daily Mail online, funeral director Christea Bogdan, of Gillman Undertakers, Tooting, south London, said he had never before in his career heard of such an event.
'I have never come across such a case,' he said.
An expert report on the Austria fire has revealed that the woman being cremated weighed more than 200kg - or 31st 7lbs - and her size had caused the oven to overheat.
The press reports state that the filter temperature reached 300C and officials realised there was a problem when thick black smoke started billowing into the building.
The device was immediately switched off but by then there was already a fire in the filter.
Austrian crematorium officials are considering putting a maximum weight on bodies after one overweight client had so much fat on her body that it caused the oven to overheat
Firemen whose clothing was left covered with a layer of greasy black soot were snapped as they tackled the difficult to extinguish blaze in special breathing gear to avoid breathing in the fumes.
In the end they had to bring the fire under control by sending a blast of water in through the vents used to clear the filter. Repair work took several days during which time the crematorium was out of action.
Firemen said that after reports of similar problems at other cemeteries not only in Austria but also in Switzerland, officials were now are considering a ban on larger bodies.
London-based Bogdan said: 'We do have large bodies that we have to deal with, which weigh 30+ stone, but not very often.
'We follow the same procedures as usual for large bodies. We have to check the size in the crematorium to check the person in the coffin will fit in the crematorium.'
Mr Bogdan said most crematoriums dealt with a standard 36ins outside measurement of a coffin. However there were some crematoriums, such as the City of London Crematorium, which now catered for larger, 50-55ins coffin circumferences.
Graz based fireman Otto Widetschek said: 'Crematorium officials need to be more responsible and not just automatically put everybody in to be cremated.'
He said that in Switzerland there were moves now to make sure that XXL bodies were routinely shipped to a special crematorium able to deal with the extra heat caused by larger bodies.