# Can I be burned on a pyre? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 15, 2006, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-burned-on-a-pyre/372878 "2006-09-15T19:58:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Eater\_in\_the\_Round](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/71c47a/32.png) [@The\_Eater\_in\_the\_Round](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Eater_in_the_Round)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-burned-on-a-pyre/372878/1 "2006-09-15T19:58:42Z")
After I am dead. I don’t mean to be burned in a crematorium, but rather on top of a big bonfire in the pasture behind my home. I’d like to go out this way, and oddly enough my family actually supports the idea but I can’t seem to find any information on the legality of such a funeral. Bonfires are allowed in the part of the county I live in, including the burning of certain types of trash and ranch brush so the fire itself shouldn’t pose much of a legal problem. Are there laws concerning how we must dispose of corpses that address open funeral pyres specifically? I can’t seem to find any information that directly addresses this in the U.S. and specifically in Texas. There is plenty of information on controversy of pyres in the UK on the net, but I haven’t been able to dig up an answer for my area. Anyone know? Thanks. p.s. I have no reason to believe I’ll be dead anytime soon. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-burned-on-a-pyre/372878/2 "2006-09-15T20:46:40Z")
You will, of course, be wearing a Darth Vader costume, right? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Eater\_in\_the\_Round](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/71c47a/32.png) [@The\_Eater\_in\_the\_Round](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Eater_in_the_Round)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-burned-on-a-pyre/372878/3 "2006-09-15T20:55:05Z")
Certainly not! I’d never allow my dignity to be compromised as such, even after death. I’ll be dressed as a viking. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-burned-on-a-pyre/372878/4 "2006-09-15T21:02:04Z")
If you are dressed as a Viking shouldn’t you be placed in a buring longboat not a pyre? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-burned-on-a-pyre/372878/5 "2006-09-15T22:17:51Z")
In my part of the country you’d be violating open-burning laws, and it’s doubtful you could get a waiver permit. However, before global warming completely takes over, it would be a great opportunity to put yourself on an ice floe and be pushed out to sea. ---
**Author:** ![Ficer67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Ficer67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ficer67)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-burned-on-a-pyre/372878/6 "2006-09-15T23:49:28Z")
I want to be set adrift in a piroque, my fishing pole and tackle box to the left and right. My ice chest should be at my feet, with a poster of Michelle Phieffer in it. That is how I want my funeral. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2006, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-burned-on-a-pyre/372878/7 "2006-09-16T02:09:05Z")
I agree, the issue would be local air-pollution laws. On the other hand, being dead and all that would not really be your problem at that point.