Cremations...

[Willow Tree]

How do Cremations work? Like, what exactly happens when the coffin goes into the fire? Is the coffin part of the ashes? (Sorry to sound awful, but Im curious). Thanks.

[Ethel]

The coffin goes in to the furnace, everything is burned.

After it cools down the remains are sifted, any bones are ground and that is added to the ashes. So yes, the coffin does form part of the ashes.

:)

[PhilLew]

The coffins used for cremation are different to those used for a brial, they look the same from the outside but are actually made of a light composite material which burns down more easily to a smaller amount of ash.

The coffin is not usually put into the furnace during the service, when it dissapears from view it is taken to a storage room and put into the furnace later that day.

Most crematorium try to do the creamating when there are no services on but it will depend how busy they are.

All coffins are put in seperatly and each furnace is allowed to cool and is cleaned between each cremation to ensure there can be no confusuin or mixup with other peoples ashes.

The coffins are treated with great respect and every care is taken to ensure that every part of the remains is sifted, ground down and put into the casket.

If a casket is not collected by the family within a set period (usually six months) the ashes as scattered, in a simple service, by the Crematorium staff within the ground and careful records are kept as to where each set are placed just in case any relatives come back latter and ask.

hope this helps