The first cremator to touch Griffith soil has arrived. Photo: Supplied.
A cremator imported from the United States has been delivered to Griffith, with a local funeral company poised to offer the town’s first cremation service by the end of the year.
Trenerry Funerals owner Daniel Calabro said he was pleased to see his project progressing with the arrival of the 14-tonne furnace used to burn deceased loved ones and preserve their ashes, as an alternative to burying them.
“There are barely any cremators made in Australia; this one was imported from the United States. It’s now on-site at Battista Street in Yoogali, where our crematorium will be built,” he said.
Around 70 per cent of funerals in Australia are cremations. At present, Griffith residents who want to use this option need to travel to Wagga for the closest service, which is two hours away.
“I think that more people will look to cremations when we have the facility in town. You see that when there is a service in town, the cremation rate spikes … I think you’ll see more cremations and fewer burials in Griffith, which is a good thing given the cemetery is nearly full,” Mr Calabro said.
Prices for Trenerry Funeral cremations will start at $1200, which is around a third of the average cost of lawn cemetery burials, which cost around $3500.
Mr Calabro explained how cremations work.
“The cremator reaches a maximum temperature of 1500 degrees Celsius during the process, which takes around three hours,” he said.
“All the flesh is burned down to ash, the bones go into a processor and are blended into a fine powder.
“If a body has a pacemaker or anything with batteries, that’s removed before the cremation takes place.”
Daniel Calabro is pleased that work on his crematorium can continue. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
The flame-based cremator is powered by natural gas.
“It has pollution control. If smoke started to come out of the stack, it would shut things down; it’s all automatic,” Mr Calabro said.
In December 2024, Griffith Council approved development applications for two crematoriums in town. In addition to the Trenerry Funerals service, rival company Griffith Regional Funeral Service will also establish a crematorium in town with the support of council, which will use $400,000 of ratepayer funds to buy a cremator.
Under the arrangement, council will lease the cremator to Griffith Regional Funeral Services, which will in turn pay council a fee for each cremation.
Trenerry Funerals’ fully private-funded project hit a roadblock last month when Griffith Council ordered it to immediately cease work on its fence, claiming it was “unlawful”. It said that failure to comply could result in a penalty of up to $1.1 million.
However, the local government body reversed this decision a few days after Region reported on it, enabling work to proceed.
“We have to wait for the contractor to come back and finish off the fence and then wait for the construction certificate and can get underway,” Mr Calabro said.
He is hopeful construction will be complete and a service can open before the end of the year.
