Injuries due to Heat

The changes occurring during cremation were watched and documented in 15 undissected bodies to be cremated. It was found that at temperatures between 670 and 810 degrees C the body showed the "pugilistic attitude" after about 10 minutes. After 20 minutes the calvaria was free from any soft tissue and fissures of the tabula externa could be noticed. The body cavities became visible after approximately 30 minutes, so that the organs were exposed. Forty minutes after cremation had started, the internal organs were severely shrunken and showed a net-like or sponge-like structure. After about 50 minutes the extremities were destroyed to an extent leaving only the torso which broke apart after 1-1.5 hours. The complete incineration of a human body took about 2-3 hours.

Autopsy reports at the Forensic Science Centre, Adelaide, South Australia, were reviewed for the 8 years from January 1991 to December 1998 for cases with unusual features in which deaths had been attributed to exposure to high environmental temperatures. Amphetamine-related hyperpyrexial deaths, anesthetic deaths caused by malignant hyperpyrexia, deaths of elderly incapacitated individuals during heat waves, and deaths of children trapped in the back of cars were excluded from the study. In 9 cases, where heat-related deaths had occurred (age range 21 to 77 years; M:F = 8:1). Predisposing factors included lack of familiarity with Australian environmental conditions, excessive clothing, prolonged sun exposure, acute alcohol intoxication, obesity, benztropine and trifluoperazine medication, and underlying dementia, alcoholic liver disease, and possibly epilepsy.