[Jeff Higgins]

You just can't make this stuff up.

http://www.abc4.com/local_news/local_headlines/story.aspx?content_id=231A7EEB-BB03-4D79-B967-2EEA839D3D98

Fire breaks out at Salt Lake crematorium
LAST UPDATE: 10/25/2006 8:08:14 PM

A dead man had one final earthly act before moving on.

Fire officials said the six-hundred pound man was in being cremated when his body fluids were too much for the oven.

The body fluids seeped out onto the floor and ignited causing a fire at the Garner Funeral Home in Salt Lake City.

"Those fluids can be very flammable," said Scott Freitag of the Salt Lake City fire department. "Sort of like a grease fire."

An employee used an extinguisher to put out the fire.

The room is self-contained and has its own drainage system.

"There really is no risk or a hazard of it getting into the sewer system, the water system or into the general public," said Freitag.

Firefighters rarely see these kind of fires.

But they say a six-hundred-pound body can create problems during a cremation.

"It really does condense or breaks down that fat into a greasy product, just like a grease fire," said Freitag. "Only a little bit can cause a flame to go up."

The crematorium is back in business and the funeral director said they'll notify the family to assure them their loved one wasn't harmed.

Wasn't harmed? The guy was dead...