SF Funeral Home Offers Cremation by Fire or Water

Pacific Interment Service, on Folsom Street, was founded by Francisco “Frank” Rivero in 1992, the year San Francisco experienced a peak in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-related deaths, 1,641. 

“He cremated AIDS patients when others were reluctant to do so,” said Lazaro Rivero, Frank’s son and co-owner of the business. “Sometimes they didn’t have any money, but we helped them anyway.” 

Today a cremation can cost from $1,300 to $8,000, less expensive than a traditional funeral with a burial, which can run tens of thousands of dollars. Pacific Interment’s prices are about average for the Bay Area, with lower charges for direct cremation; the deceased is incinerated without a viewing, visitation, or funeral service beforehand. 

The company also offers “witness cremations,” an important part of Buddhist tradition, whereby family, friends, and in the case of Buddhists, monks, can be present during the cremation process. Attendees conduct rituals and send the body into the cremation machine. A witness cremation costs more than a direct cremation. 

Pacific Interment has its own crematory with a chapel attached at its Emeryville location, which makes witness cremations easier to facilitate. Because Pacific Interment has a crematory, it’s able to accommodate the time constraints many Buddhist families have; they usually want cremations done within a specific day and time, according to their religious practices.   

“A lot of times it’s within two to three days of the death, which is very fast, and some funeral homes have a hard time doing that,” Rivero said. 

Other funeral homes have to send the body elsewhere to be cremated and wait for the ashes to be returned. There’s a lot of paperwork involved, including death certificates and a medical examination. 

“It’s a very crunched time frame but we’re good at getting everything filed for short notice witness cremations,” he added. 

In 2023, the Riveros installed the Bay Area’s first aquamation system: cremation through water. There are just four aquamation providers in California. Aquamation appealed to Lazaro because it’s environmentally friendly. Traditional cremations release carbon and other air pollutants, use fossil fuels, and emit mercury and other heavy metals. They also potentially impact soil and water quality. An aquamation is also gentler than a flame cremation.  

“Some people don’t feel comfortable with fire or flames and avoid cremation because of it,” he said. “The idea of water, because it’s a gentle process, is more comfortable. With a water cremation, the breakdown that occurs in the machine is actually the way the body breaks down naturally but it accelerates that natural process.”

The process occurs with the addition of potassium hydroxide, an alkaline substance that speeds up the body’s breakdown. The Riveros purchased a system from Bio-Response Solutions but given Frank’s experience with construction, plumbing, and as a general contractor, he tinkered with it. He adapted the machine such that the timeframe for an aquamation dropped from eight hours to roughly four. Flame cremation takes about two hours.

“We’re happy with the way the Bio-Response machine turned out after we modified it, and so were the folks at Bio-Response,” Rivero said. “Now they sell machines with the same modifications my dad made.”  

When the water cremation is completed, the family still receives ashes, but they’re a different color; a lighter, white to tan color as opposed to darker gray or black. They consist of the remaining bone fragments after the water process, which, like traditional cremation, is reduced to a fine powder, with the bones processed to resemble the ashes produced by flame cremation.

“A lot of people feel obliged to spend large quantities of money and it’s not necessarily bad if they can afford it, but they can financially overextend themselves with funeral services,” Rivero said. “It’s important to know they can show their love for someone who has passed away without spending exorbitantly or feel obliged to purchase large amounts of funeral goods.”