ASHES TO ASHES
A Coast cremator reveals what it’s really like to send somebody on their final journey
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
DUBBED “Bruce” and “Wayne’, they’re the Batmen of the Gold Coast death industry.
But Bruce and Wayne are not people. They’re two $750,000, state-of-the-art machines that heat up to 1000C and cremate nearly 2000 of the 3400 Gold Coasters who die every year.
The cremation process is one most people shy away from ever wanting to know about.
But a peek behind the scenes at one of the Gold Coast’s busiest crematoriums – Allambe Memorial Gardens at Nerang – is morbidly fascinating.
Chief cremator operator Steve Claggett has arguably one of the most confronting jobs in the city but he’s passionate about ensuring the deceased are treated with the sensitivity they deserve as they complete their journey from human form to ashes.
“We do it very professionally and with empathy, I treat the people how I’d want my loved ones treated,” Mr Claggett says as he proudly tends to the two machines that he bestowed the superhero names on.
“My wife even wants me to cremate her when it comes the time.
“We get everyone from war heroes and famous people through to bikies. They are all treated the same.
“Baby cremations are the hardest. I’ve had times when it’s stopped me in my tracks.”
Thursday and Fridays are usually the busiest days for the crematorium because less funerals are planned for Monday.
The team can process up to 14 deceased a day but will ramp up operation hours in peak times like the height of summer, when more people tend to pass away.
THE PREPARATION
The cremation process puts into perspective just how fragile our bodies are.
In a matter of minutes, inside a chamber heated to up to 1000C, the human form literally evaporates into thin air.
Mr Claggett starts about 5am Monday through to Saturday and takes delivery of up to 14 bodies a day from funeral directors.
The cremators take an hour to fire up but even after being turned off overnight, they’re still insufferably hot when Mr Claggett opens the furnace door.
Today, it only takes 15 minutes to reach 770C.
Only one body goes through each cremator at a time. The rest of his late clients are stored in a large refrigerator that holds up to six coffins.
Mr Claggett never physically sights the people with whom he’s charged with cremating.
He’s given crucial paperwork about the person, including their name, age, weight and contents of the coffin, but the coffin lid always stays shut.
Batteries, bottles, cans, pacemakers and more than one stuffed toy are banned from the cremator because of the highly-flammable and explosive nature of the items.
“I’ve had people ask can he take his phone in the coffin and you say ‘yes but not with the battery’,” Mr Claggett says.
“We had one occasion where a family filled the coffin with 20-30 plush toys which are highly flammable and the temperature went through the roof.
“And we had another person request if their loved one could be cremated in his wet suit and we had to say no because the rubber may not burn away.
“People have put golf clubs, tattoo guns in coffins, we quite often find burnt coins in the ashes.”
Mr Claggett wears personal protective equipment including a fire-retardant shirt, full shield face mask, safety glasses and gloves as he loads a coffin on a charge bier, which is like a large trolley that places the casket into the cremation chamber.
The coffin name plate is transferred to a ledge at the front of the cremator and follows the body right through the various stages of the cremation to ensure traceability.
THE PROCESS
The caskets go in headfirst – a change from the previous method of going in feet first – because the head and shoulders are the bulkiest part of the body.
They go straight under the super-hot gas jets.
Once the door is shut, Mr Claggett programs the computer and the cremation process starts while he monitors its progress through a peephole in the door.
The whole cremation process takes between one to 1½ hours for an average person.
Oversized bodies can take up to three hours.
Mr Claggett says the biggest person he’s cremated has weighed 270kg, coffin included, and it took 3½ hours.
“But generally if someone weighs more than 250kg, it’s considered too heavy for the charge bier and they have to go to burial,” he says.
“Younger people tend to have more muscle mass and will burn a bit slower compared to an older person.”
The coffin catches fire soon after entering the chamber and within 10 minutes it has collapsed. Skin, muscles and tendons start melting away quickly. The heart and brain are the last organs to go – all evaporating into thin air.
By the 50-minute mark only calcified bones remain.
During the process, air from the cremation chamber goes into a second chamber through suction where it is “burnt” again to remove any residual matter before the clean air is released into the atmosphere by a flue.
Once it has finished, Mr Claggett rakes the red-hot ashes – which now weigh from 5-8kg – into a pit where they cool for an hour while being blasted with compressed air.
It’s a revolving door – the next coffin is then loaded into the cremation chamber.
Among the ashes, some items survive including replacement body parts like hips, knees and screws. They’re sent for recycling and the money is donated to charity.
“We’ve had a couple of families request a titanium rod from their loved one’s leg … people are making jewellery out of it,” Mr Claggett says.
“Sometimes we get rings, watch frames and underwires from bras that survive the cremation process.”
Once cooled, the remains are put in an ash processor which grinds up the bones. It only takes two minutes. From there, the ashes go in a PVC container marked with the person’s name and registered cremation number before being placed in a storage room with hundreds of other ashes waiting to be collected.
THE HEARTBREAK
From stoic and strong fathers of stillborn babies to griefstricken wives and slightly strange relatives, Mr Claggett has seen all kinds of grief.
Some families – often Sikhs, Buddhists or people of Asian heritage – choose to witness the cremation and Mr Claggett dresses in a suit to ensure the family are shown the utmost respect.
They chant mantras to ensure safe passage and believe fire is purifying and a gateway to the afterlife.
They can watch through a glass window from a separate room or choose to be on the crematorium floor under strict supervision from several staff.
Allambe Memorial Gardens family services manager Gaylene Adam knows the risks.
“About 15 years ago, at another crematorium, I’ve had someone try to climb in the cremator after their loved one. It’s hard when they are so