system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: What do people actually die from when they are burned alive?

Does the heat cause the heart to stop working? Or does it affect the mind first? Or is it smoke inhalation?
gpt
Depends... but here's a few ways...

Carbon monoxide poisoning would be the nice way out. Happens in house fires fairly often.

Shock is another nice way out, where you effectively go unconscious from the pain and vital organs shut down.

Not so nicely, you can cook to the point your skin burns off, and the organs can no longer function. The human body can burn pretty well, once the skin is burned off...

It's possible to bleed out if the fire destroys enough blood vessels, and effectively pass out from blood loss. Then it's similar to shock as the body shuts down.