BBC News, August 30, 1998
New light on Human Torch Mystery
Scientists believe they have found the secret behind stories of people suddenly bursting into flames. BBC 1's QED - which brought together the world's top fire experts - looked at cases of spontaneous human combustion from around the world. Spontaneous human combustion hits the headlines And the programme discovered that the so-called wick-effect, in which a body is devoured by flames from its own body fat, is behind the mystery.