Evergreen-Washelli Funeral Home and Cemetery in Seattle, Washington.

Cremation is a process of subjecting the body to intense heat and flame, approximately 1600 to 2000 degrees Fahrenheit, until it has been almost totally consumed.

Unless they have been embalmed, the remains are kept refrigerated until cremation. Common sense, dignity, health concerns and Washington laws require that the remains be placed in an opaque, rigid container. This can range from a specially-designed corrugated cardboard box to a wooden casket, depending on preference. Since the container is consumed in the cremation process, it cannot be made of non-flammable substances or materials which give off toxic fumes on burning.

The remains, in their container, are placed in the cremation chamber and subjected to intense gas flame. It usually takes 45-60 minutes for the remains to be consumed, and for safety reasons the chamber is cooled for several hours before opening.

At the end of the process the remains are swept from the chamber. While sweeping is done with great care, small quantities of the remains may be left behind in the chamber and small quantities from previous cremations may be mingled with the current remains. Any remaining metal parts of the cremation container, metal medical prostheses or other foreign objects are removed. This leaves about 6 to 8 pounds of bone fragments, which are mechanically reduced to a volume of about 200 cubic inches and the texture of course beach sand.

Following mechanical processing the cremated remains are either placed directly into the chosen memorial urn or temporarily stored in a non-permanent container awaiting disposition. The deceased person then may be memorialized in a columbarium, in a cemetery or in any other way the family has chosen.

A commonly asked question is, how do you know they are "your" cremated remains? Crematories are very careful about paperwork. By law and regulation the relevant papers and permissions are kept with the remains and are then clipped to the outside of the cremating unit until the process is complete. In addition, most crematories place a coded metal tag in the cremation chamber with the remains to further reduce the possibility of error. This tag is kept with the remains and placed with them into the final urn or other container.

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