Quick Facts
Biography
George Mott (November 20, 1927 – March 26, 1986) was a firefighter who burned to death in his home outside Crown Point, New York, in 1986. He is often cited as an example of spontaneous human combustion. His body was consumed along with the mattress he was lying on leaving an implausibly shrunken skull and a piece of rib cage.
Fire investigators suggested that the death was either caused by a gas leak or an electrical arc that shot out of an outlet and set fire to Mott. However, there was never any evidence to fully or even partially support that claim. Some believe his alcoholism and heavy smoking could have contributed to it; he was not wearing his oxygen mask, and matches were found near the oxygen machine, unignited. He was 58 years old when he died.