1964, February 2: Old Woman’s Fiery Death

The Legend:

On February 2, 1964, a 72-year-old woman in Clapham, London, England, was found near totally destroyed by fire in a small room; other than some damage where the remains were found, the room was undamaged.

Unreliable

        This is the first listing of this incident in Anomalies, and therefore will require more research to confirm it. This is especially true because the above comes from Jenny Randles and Peter Hough's 1992 book, Spontaneous Human Combustion; this book gives almost no sources for the accounts it relates, most often attributing them to "Author's own investigation" and "Historical archives traced and researched"... which essentially means "Just trust us."

        In this case, the above is attributed to Tony McMunn, but we are not told what book or interview, or any other information that would help track it down. For this reason, this account is marked as both "Unreliable" and "Investigate;" I will add new information as I get a chance to dig further.