The Associated Press beat me to the story about the open air cremations in Crestone, Colorado, probably the only place in the United States where you can be cremated on a funeral pyre. I interviewed Stephanie Gaines a few months ago, and hadn’t written it up yet. You have to be a resident of Crestone for at least six months before you can take advantage of their open air cremation option.

Some of the story, as it appeared on WashingtonPost.com:

The Associated Press
Monday, January 31, 2011; 11:42 AM

CRESTONE, Colo. — Belinda Ellis’ farewell went as she wanted. One by one, her family placed juniper boughs and logs about her body, covered in red cloth atop a rectangular steel grate inside a brick-lined hearth. With a torch, her husband lit the fire that consumed her, sending billows of smoke into the blue-gray sky of dawn.

When the smoke subsided, a triangle-shaped flame flickered inside the circle of mourners, heavily-dressed and huddling against zero-degree weather.

“Mommy, you mean the world to me and it’s hard to live without you,” called out Ellis’ weeping daughter, Brandi, 18. “It’s hard to breathe, it’s hard to see and it’s hard to think about anything but you.”

The outdoor funeral pyre in this southern Colorado mountain town is unique. Funeral and cremation industry officials say they are unaware of any other place in the nation that conducts open-air cremations for people regardless of religion. A Buddhist temple in Red Feather Lakes, Colo., conducts a few funeral pyres, but only for its members.

Ancient Vikings lit funeral pyres to honor their dead, and it is accepted practice among Buddhist and Hindu religions. But the practice is largely taboo in the U.S.

The pyre harkens to references in the Christian and Hebrew Bibles equating rising smoke with the ascent of the soul, said David Weddle, a religion professor at Colorado College. It can be seen as honoring a natural cycle, reducing the body to ash and the elements of which it is composed. It also can be a protest against traditional funerals, which some view as a denial of death, Weddle said.

Ellis’ ceremony and others seem somehow fitting for Crestone, home to an eclectic mix of spiritual and religious groups that include Zen and Tibetan Buddhists and Carmelites, said Stephanie Gaines, director of the nondenominational Crestone End of Life Project, the volunteer group that performs the cremations.

In this photo taken on Jan. 12, 2011, Randy Ellis, 51, right, lights a torch to begin the funeral pyre of his wife, Belinda Ellis, 48. The outdoor cremation that happened in Crestone, Colo., is an uncommon ceremony in the U.S. Funeral industry officials say Crestone is the only place in the U.S. where funeral pyres are performed for people regardless of religion. (AP Photo/Ivan Moreno) (Ivan Moreno – AP)

In this photo taken on Jan. 12, 2011, Randy Ellis, 51, uses a torch to begin the cremation of his wife, Belinda Ellis, 48, in Crestone, Colo. Moments earlier, relatives placed juniper boughs and logs on her body to prepare for the outdoor cremation. Funeral industry officials say Crestone is the only place in the U.S. where funeral pyres are performed for people regardless of religion. (AP Photo/Ivan Moreno) (Ivan Moreno – AP)

In this photo taken on Jan. 12, 2011, smoke billows as fire begins to consume the body of Belinda Ellis, 48, who chose to be cremated outdoors in Crestone, Colo. Funeral industry officials say Crestone is the only place in the U.S. where funeral pyres are performed for people regardless of religion. (AP Photo/Ivan Moreno) (Ivan Moreno – AP)

In this photo taken on Jan. 12, 2011, Brenda Ellis, 18, talks to a reporter during the outdoor cremation of her mother, Belinda Ellis, 48, in Crestone, Colo. Funeral industry officials say Crestone is the only place in the U.S. where funeral pyres are performed for people regardless of religion.(AP Photo/Ivan Moreno) (Ivan Moreno – AP)