Police sceptical after witnesses say man who woke up on fire had spontaneously combusted

Police in Edmonton, Canada, are baffled after a man claimed he woke up on fire on Saturday morning. Witnesses are telling city officers that the young man, believed to be around 20 years old, spontaneously combusted. “The complainant isn’t saying anything, not co-operating with us,” said acting Staff Sgt. Mike Wynnyk.

“The witnesses aren’t giving us any information other than they saw his back on fire. That’s it. They’re all thinking it was spontaneous human combustion.” The call came in to police around 8am. By the time officers arrived at the home, the fire had been extinguished and there was only minimal damage to a cushion on a couch the man said he had been sleeping on. Police are trying to get more information out of the victim, who is in hospital recovering from second-degree burns.



Wynnyk is sceptical of the combustion claim. “We’re persistent. We don’t want to give up with just that. We’re going to keep trying to prod him and talk to him and persuade him to give us more,” Wynnyk said. “Right now it’s really up in the air. We’re as confused as everybody else is on it.” Wynnyk hopes witnesses at the residence, believed to be family members, come forward with more information while detectives continue to investigate.

Staff Sgt. Terry Langley of the Edmonton Police Service added: “We’re not exactly sure how it happened at this point. Other occupants at this point are looking toward supernatural causes as opposed to providing us any information. They’ve all declined any opportunity to come in and be interviewed. We’re obviously not putting a whole lot of stock in the spontaneous combustion angle that’s being presumed by the family.”