Funeral homes in Fremont County are planning for the future as they see their space fill up rapidly.
Holt Mortuary in Canon City is running low on space to put deceased loved ones, but they do have a plan if they run out of space completely.
“We’re trying to help families in one of the most difficult times in their lives,” said Brian Allen, the General Manager of Holt Mortuary.
Brian Allen is the General Manager of Holt Mortuary, a funeral home that is seeing an increase in people over recent weeks.
“It feels like we’re getting one wave of COVID, and then another wave,” Allen said.
Allen believes the increase of COVID-19 cases is playing a major part in why he and other funeral homes are close to maximum capacity, Fremont County Coroner Randy Keller says the numbers prove that is true.
“Our total number of cases last year for the entire year I believe was around 238 cases. At this point I think we’ve hit the 246 mark,” said Keller.
Allen says while it is stressful, there are other aspects of the industry backed up too, even as far out as two weeks.
“Everyone’s maxed out as for cemeteries, there’s only certain times, especially in the Springs,” said Allen
He says communication is very important right now, especially as families are grieving.
“Working with families through this and trying to help them understand that right now it’s very hard to do anything fast,” Allen said.
The coroner's office does have a plan for the mortuaries just in case they run out of room.
“We have got a mass casualty trailer that is housed here in Fremont County that we have initiated and gotten in touch with both funeral homes in regards to storage,” said Keller.
Both men hope they won’t need to use the mass casualty trailer and that the death numbers decrease soon.
“I just hope everybody stays healthy, I hope families get through this, I hope our community and I hope our country,” said Allen.
The coroners office says the mobile mortuary can hold a maximum of twenty people.
