How long would it take to burn to death?

Ormolus

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Sorry for bugging you guys again, but this question is... burning me up. I apologize for the pun.

Anyway, the situation is such: person wearing clothes (let's say t-shirt and jeans) is set afire. Accelerants is a non-issue as the fire has supernatural properties so will continue to burn even without accelerants and won't get put out by stop, drop, and roll. Approximately how long would it take the person to burn to death or to pass out for whatever reason?
 

Siri Kirpal

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Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Unless your fire is also smokeless, the person will probably die of smoke inhalation before being burned to death.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

Russell Secord

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In immolation the victim usually dies from suffocation. He/she inhales the fire as well as the smoke, and the lung tissue burns away. The skin has an ablative effect because it has several layers, which protects the organs.

So the answer is, as long as the victim can hold his breath--or keep from screaming.
 

Ormolus

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The fire itself isn't creating any smoke, so the only smoke to factor in would be from his burning clothes, I guess.
 

King Neptune

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Google some videos of self-immolation and see how long it looks like it takes. Some of them seem to last much longer than should be possible.
 

Ormolus

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Google some videos of self-immolation and see how long it looks like it takes. Some of them seem to last much longer than should be possible.

Most of the videos are of Tibetan monks in China doing it as protests. They're not giving me a great idea of the average timespan though. I mean, most of them have the fires put out anyway and I'm curious about the time until death.
 

ShayneTWright

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Time untill death if remaining on fire is typically 60 ~ 90 seconds before loss of consciousness due to aphyxiation. As low as 10 ~ 30 secs if the person is active such as fighinting due to already low oxygen stores.

If you think this is a short time frame, then think back to when you burnt a finger on the stove...now put that sensation all over you body and multiply the timeframe.

A VERY painful way to go.

Most people dont die from catching fire as they put it out. They die slowly over a few days from plasma loss, dehydration and infection.
 
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Ormolus

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No offense, and I appreciate the input, but I feel like maybe you didn't read the first post, Shayne.

Most people dont die from catching fire as they put it out. They die slowly over a few days from plasma loss, dehydration and infection.

I mentioned that the fire can't be put out.

Time untill death if remaining on fire is typically 60 ~ 90 seconds before loss of consciousness due to aphyxiation. As low as 10 ~ 30 secs if the person is active such as fighinting due to already low oxygen stores.

Would asphyxiation still be an issue when there's only a bit of smoke (from the clothes burning)? If it's really just because of the smoke, then I'm fairly sure he wouldn't asphyxiate because there's only a bit of smoke from his clothes.
 

WeaselFire

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Would asphyxiation still be an issue when there's only a bit of smoke...?
Asphyxiation has nothing to do with smoke. The fire consumes oxygen. We need oxygen. This is entirely dependent on the size of the fire.

People don't burn to death. Live flesh doesn't burn well so there has to be an outside fuel source. That means gasoline or the like. Which burns very fast, but not terribly hot, and is consumed quickly.

People die of the lack of oxygen, smoke inhalation or secondary effects due to burns, such as infections and even shock.

A typical fire that can't easily be extinguished and will kill is a napalm attack. All the victims analyzed died from a lack of oxygen. That can take as little as a few minutes, although the shock of the injuries, which eliminates most actual pain, can render them unconscious in 30 seconds or less.

The problem with your question is that the premise is flawed. But if a layman describes the death, the comment might be:

"It was terrible. He burned to death right in front of us. Nothing would stop the fire, he just died there in a few minutes."

Jeff
 

King Neptune

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Most of the videos are of Tibetan monks in China doing it as protests. They're not giving me a great idea of the average timespan though. I mean, most of them have the fires put out anyway and I'm curious about the time until death.

I have seen videos of the complete fire, and the fire was not extinguished. But the 60 to 90 seconds probably is about right; although the upper limit might be as much as two minutes.

As others have noted, death is not from burning up but from inhaling superheated air and smoke. The lungs are badly damaged from the heat, and they can no longer absorb oxygen.
 

jclarkdawe

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Repeat Weasel's answer here.

To get a simple average, you can't have much variance in your samples. That's not the case here. You have three different area of variance.

How fast does the fire build? Fires can go from room temperature to a thousand degrees in less then a second or take several minutes to build. The longer it takes to build, the longer it takes before it becomes fatal.

How hot does the fire get? Paper's ignition temperature is 451 degrees F. and doesn't generate a lot of BTUs. Magnesium has an burn temperature of something like 3,000 degrees F and generates a massive amount of BTUs. Think the two might result in a lot of variance?

How hard is it for the individual to die? Some people die easily, some people die hard. Underlying medical conditions, age, and just general philosophy make a lot of differences.

People can die within seconds to several minutes. Normal range is probably between 30 seconds and two minutes. Tailor the variables to create the time span that you need for the story.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe
 

Ormolus

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These last couple answers were the best, no offense to the others, of course, but I was looking for a general timetable. Seems like it's between 30 seconds and two minutes on average but of course it depends on the person and some other variables. Thanks guys.