Rebuilding has started on the crematorium in Innisfil that was destroyed by fire on Christmas Eve.
Last Christmas was always going to be tough for Ken Lonely. It was his first without his wife, who passed away in September. When he came to visit her ashes with his daughter, Lonely wasn't prepared for what he found.
“We had just had her interred here, and we came down on Christmas Eve to spend some quiet time and we were met with the police barricade.
The Innisvale crematorium had burned to the ground, with Lonely’s wife’s ashes inside.
“It took all of the attic and the roof in the building and then slowly came down into the rest of the building,” says general manager Nicole McNaughton.
The roof collapsed on the indoor niches holding more than a dozen urns. Incredibly, most stayed intact. Lonely was thankful he didn't lose his wife a second time.
Work is now underway to rebuild the facility and restore all its services. Despite construction, the cemetery is still open, but having the crematorium closed is costing the business millions of dollars.
“We were the second largest crematorium in Ontario so all of the cremations that were coming here are now being dispersed out to other crematoriums,” says McNaughton. “We were doing approximately 3,000 cremations a year.”
“Driving all the way down to Toronto, across to Lindsay, certainly other providers up north, North Bay so the distances they've had to drive to get cremations services have grown,” says Dave Carson, manager of Carson Funeral Home.
The site won't be finished for months, but Lonely’s encouraged by the progress and he's looking forward to bringing his wife back.
“We'll be back in the same area, the niche. We will have everything set up as it was before.”
The goal is to have most of the new facilities open by December. Staff say they are eager for things to return to normal, so they can return to their work in helping others find rest.
