Ellen Coutres' Fiery Death
The Legend:
In December 1949, 53-year-old Mrs. Ellen K. Coutres of Manchester, New Hampshire, was found burned to death as if she had been "a human torch". Other than Mrs. Coutres, nothing in the room was burned, and the wooden house was undamaged.
Theories
Joe Nickell, in his book Secrets of the Supernatural, gives an account of this event he found in Vincent H. Gaddis' Mysterious Fires and Lights (1967); a copy of which I will find. Nickell points out that while the account states that Coutres was "dead from burns" as if she had been "a human torch," it does not indicate any extensive body damage (no portion of her body was reduced to ashes). Coutres apparently collapsed in the center of the room, away from other objects, and Nickell theorizes that "depending on the amount of clothing on the body, it is plausible that the fire was just sufficient to cause the minimal destruction without setting the floor on fire (since flames burn upward)." The fire in Coutres' stove had been out for some time, but it could have exinguised itself after she had caught fire, or she could have set herself on fire trying to light it.
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