Disposal of the dead is a considerable issue, of cost, practicality, regulation, reverence and emotion. There are also considerable safety issues, of manual handling and, inevitably, of infection prevention and control.

Manual handling issues get worse as the rates and extent of obesity continues to increase. But with the most extreme cases obesity, there exists another safety issue. Cremation of an obese body means charging a cremator with a great deal of highly combustible fat, and to put it bluntly the bigger the body the bigger the burn!

In the US, the cremation of a grossly obese 57-stone man caused a funeral home to almost burn to the ground. The flames from the large body set the roof of the building on fire when the chimney overheated. Manager Jerry Hendrix Sr said the large amount of fat on the body created excessive heat and oil once they started the cremation process.

People who lived nearby could see smoke billowing from the building and firefighters rushed to the crematorium to extinguish the blaze. The man’s family were not present and no-one was hurt during the fire at the Southside Cremation Services in Richmond, Virginia. Speaking to NBC12, Mr Hendrix said: “The body was so obese that the actual body fat came off and went straight up the sack and hit the roof material, the rubber roof we have up there and that’s what made it go up like it did…It was no negligence involved in it.”

The fire at the funeral home in America sent smoke flowing over the nearby area but caused no damage other than to the roof of the building. Three people were inside the crematorium at the time of the fire but were able to get out unharmed.

While three bodies were also onsite when the blaze started but Mr Hendrix said none were left damaged. The funeral home is known for cremating large people.

The cause of the fire has been ruled accidental which is perhaps slightly better than blaming the deceased.