Bigger burials for bigger bodies

In Melbourne bigger burial holes are being dug and bigger furnaces are being used in crematoriums to apparently cope with a growing number of bigger people in the community.

The chief executive officer at the Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Russ Allison, said that a bigger furnace had been ordered during renovations four years ago. He said Springvale had to cremate one plus-sized coffin a month and because that cremation took twice as long as a standard casket there were less cremations on those days.

A traditional casket is 2m long, 60cm wide, and 40cm high while a large casket is the same 2m long but 85cm wide and 60cm high.

At Fawkner Cemetery a new furnace was not necessary but administrator Peter Lewinsky said that bigger people were creating other problems. “We rely on funeral directors to tell us if we need to dig a larger hole. That happens quite often”, Mr.Lewinsky said.