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[Vester]

They'd still have clothes, probably, which would catch fire, unless they're particularly old zombies whose clothes have rotted off.

And a zombie that age would probably be so decomposed it just falls apart.

[Neruz]

Clothes don't burn for all that long, all things considered.

[Vester]

They burn for long enough.

Look, I just want flaming zombies to enter the equation. Maybe... maybe if someone tried something ill-advised, like dousing them in gasoline then lighting them.

[Neruz]

Long enough to do what? Get medium rare?

[DJ]

Human fat burns well enough. Haven't you seen that CSI episode?

[Vester]

Long enough to do what? Get medium rare?

Long enough to set your palisade on fire.

(unless it's raining).

[DJ]

Also, wouldn't cooking their brains be just as effective as putting a bullet through them?

[Vester]

Yeah, in theory. You'd need a serious inferno for that, though.

Or they could be standing in the fire, that might also work.

But a big fire, again, would be just as dangerous to you.

[Neruz]

Depends on the zombie.


Generally though; fire is not a good weapon against Zombies. Fire works so well against living creatures due to pain, Zombies lack pain.

[DJ]

You underestimate the power of fire. Inferno would turn them into chunks of coal. A medium fire is hot enough to cook brains.

Fire isn't good because of pain. Fire is good because it makes complex carbon chains fall apart. Fever is dangerous because even 40°C is sufficient to make your body start falling apart.

[Vester]

Yeah, but they'd have to catch fire first, and you'd need them to be exposed to the fire for quite a while, especially since they'll probably be shambling in your general direction for the whole time. So, you'd need a pretty big fire.

(I didn't see that episode of CSI, no.)

[Neruz]

If you are already in a defensible compound, just melt some styrofoam in gasoline, pour it down on zombies and throw a match at them.

Then get poisoned by the fumes? Excellent idea.

You won't get poisoned if you retreat indoors and the fire is outdoors, provided that the fire isn't too big. And it's solving problems with fire. We all know that fire is better than bullets.

You underestimate the power of fire. Inferno would turn them into chunks of coal. A medium fire is hot enough to cook brains.[/quote]

Fire isn't good because of pain. Fire is good because it makes complex carbon chains fall apart. Fever is dangerous because even 40°C is sufficient to make your body start falling apart.

It's not even close to fast enough; people have been on fire for several minutes and survived in the past.

[Vester]

Hence, inferno.

But DJ said something about human fat burning well. I'll research.

[Neruz]

Fat will burn, provided you get it into a liquid state and expose it to an open flame. It would need air to do so however; something distinctly lacking inside the human body. Plus you'd need to get rid of all that water first too.

[Vester]

That sounds about right. I just found something with the number 355 C, so it's safe to say that solid human fat won't burn right.

(Found that number with google. Searched human fat ignition temperature. Couldn't access article, though, so I gleaned the above from the excerpt.)