Fat Woman's Corpse Sets Crematorium On Fire In Austria

[BC Fire Department]

An obese corpse may have caused a fire that nearly destroyed an
Austrian crematorium.

Investigators believe that the mid-April blaze in Graz began
when large amounts of burning fat from a 440-pound woman's body
blocked an air filter, which in turn caused the filter system to
overheat, Fox News reports.

Firefighters were able to control the blaze by blasting water
through the crematorium's vents, according to the Daily Mail,
but not before the fire had already done enough damage to keep
the crematorium shut down for several days.

The firemen left the scene coated in layers of black, greasy
soot.

Former Graz fire chief Otto Widestchek says it's time for
Austria to start building special crematoria that are equipped
to handle the risks of cremating obese bodies, according to the
Herald Sun. In Switzerland, Widetschek points out, at least one
such facility exists.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/06/obese-woman-body-
crematorium-fire_n_1573751.html