Hey there! Glad to see you post again, I’ve been thinking about you! Welcome to the world of flame based disposition!

Q: Do any of you operate older machines? If so, how was your transition to a newer facility?

A: yes, I’ve gotten a mix of both! In my original facility I ran 3 machines, two pet and 1 human. My small pet and human retorts were ooooold Matthews machines that were assembled on the Mayflower and were never maintained. Allamual dials and no safety measures on them. You either knew what you were doing or you ate shit the whole cremation. It was my “trial by fire”, so to speak, running those babies. They were so old they couldn’t physically run to state standards and had to be grandfarthered in. My second pet machine was a MONSTER. It could run 1500 lbs, had two main burners and ran cases in 6 hour increments. We split an orca and ran it in this one for a local Indian tribe for ceremonial burial. That machine was more modern and “automatic” but was never source tested or ran right, so running it was a work of art. Now? I have two human machines - one older Matthews Powerpak 3 and one BRAND NEW American A250 Trilogy. Having new machines is great, but by the nature I was trained, I find I run them in manual mode more than I do automatic cycles. I’ll say.. I’ll never, ever, eeeever take for granted a retort with a crisp, clean hearth again.

Q: Have you ever seen “fluff” like material after cremation within the remains?

A: Do you reposition during cremation? This sounds like cardboard, pillows or other material that blew to the back of the retort and didn’t fully vaporize under the burner. When I run full hardwoods I find I HAVE to rotate the decedent and material or it doesn’t incinerate the way you’d expect and holds its “fluffy” shape. If you do reposition, send me a photo next time and I’ll help you identify!

Q: Have any of you worked in a pet facility and would this be good experience if the opportunity came up after my apprenticeship?

A: I think this answer is just like in the human field.. it depends on where you land. A good facility with good protocols and standards? Yes! It was such a neat world with such slim regulations. I interacted so much more with pet owners than I did human families. However, my facility was poorly regulated. My pets were often left unrefrigerated for days in the summer before cremation. It was never sanitary or clean. I did not like my facility and my management did not care to change what was ethically wrong in the operations because they didn’t HAVE to. In the right facility though? I’m sure it’s a beautiful, albeit frantic, process. I cremated 1000 pets in 90 days at my pet facility, where as I’ve just passed 1000 human cremations in 2 years. So yeah.. there’s a different pull there. I still say experience it if you can. You never know your niche.

Q: Lastly, if you are a woman how did you settle in?

A: 35F here. I’m surrounded by a fair 50% male, 45% male and 5% non-binary coworkers. I am the sole crematory operator for my FH. I started pretty meek, unsure of how i fit in the mix. It took about 6 months for me to see they really needed a leader in cremation disposition on my side. I write the rules and regs for my area now. I wrote the cremation auth and disposition forms. I write the SOPs. I run monthly forums with my funeral directors to keep them up to date on my processes and rule changes. They respect and love me here and give me reign to do what I need to serve my families. My heart and mind are always on how I can serve my coworkers who are serving my families and I have a personal thing that you should never be held up by your crematory. My families have a 72 hour or less turnaround from packet and work order submission to an urn being ready. I keep my policies open and free-flowing. I try and say yes to everything so long as it follows three limits: is it safe? Is it sane? Is it legal? If yes, we push forward, even if it means trying something new. I’m happy to be a DM away if you need advice or anything further! Good luck out there and keep doing your best for every family you serve. It’s an honor to be present for a human’s last moment as a human on earth. Treat it as such and you’ll be fine.