Safety Third — a common joke by fire spinners. Clearly safety is not first when you’re spinning fire around… First you had the idea, Second you had the motivation, and Third you through of safety. Haha!
What is Fire Safety?
Fire safety is to Firedance what a crash pad is to aerials. It should never be needed, it only works if it is in the right place, and it will always fail if used wrong. The most common job of the fire safety is to put out toys at the end of a spin. The next is crowd control. There should never be an audience member between the safety and the dancer. After that, the purpose of the safety is to be an experienced set of eyes watching to see anything that could be dangerous – spinoffs under trees, poi heads flying off, ground trails into the fuel dump, just some examples. Any small issue, for example a performer catching on fire, or hair coming out of a hat/ponytail/bun, can be communicated verbally, and doesn’t need direct action by the safety.
Who can Fire Safety?
A good fire safety should –
- be an experienced fire spinner
- have some knowledge of fire safety, and some very basic first aid knowledge
- be sober
- be attentive (i.e. actually watching the person spinning)
- have good nerves (i.e. won’t panic)
Fire Safety Materials
Fire blankets:
Duvetyne cloth. (or “Commando Cloth”) Duvetyne is wool treated with a fire-retardant chemical. It is extremely fire resistant and wonderful for putting out fire toys. It can be purchased from filmtools.com, or other places online.
Wool cloth. (or “Stage Cloth”) If Duvetyne isn’t readily available, we’ve got plenty of these to spare. A thick wool cloth is very functional for the purposes of extinguishing fire. Maybe not as good for super heavy-duty fires, but for the ones we will be working with it is more than sufficient.
Damp cotton towel. In a pinch, a damp (not wet!) cotton towel will get the job done. We forewarned that this may result in the soaking of your wicks, which is annoying to undo.
Fuel dump essentials:
Fuel! In clearly marked buckets. You should always know exactly what kind of fuel is in what bucket. (Inserting different colored glowsticks into the fuel can be great for this!)
First aid kit, with burn cream and bandages
Light, lamp or headlight
A barrier separating the fuel from the rest of the party. This does not have to be a solid, flat physical barrier, but the fuel dump should be clearly distinguished and apart from the rest of the action.
Spin-off bucket
Water (for drinking and hair-wetting)
Fuel dump optionals:
- Extra hardware
- Fire extinguisher
- Garden hose
- Plastic funnel (for pouring gas back into the containers)
- Colored glowsticks (for marking fuel)
Setting up the Fire Zone
Fuel dump: Select a good location. The fuel dump should be in a place that will not have any traffic coming through it, and offers an open path to the fire spinning area.
The fire spinning area should be well-marked and provide a lot of space between the spinner and bystanders. An 18′ radius is the bare minimum; if the spinning area is going to have multiple spinners, big toys, or spinners who tend to do wild, erratic tricks, you may want to go bigger.
No fire by the fuel dump! No smoking, and definitely no lighting up wicks behind there.
keep everything together behind a barrier (If you don’t have a barrier, be EXTRA sure that all fuel cans (especially white gas) are closed at all times. Keeping the fuel buckets closed can prevent nearly all of the accidents that might occur at a fuel dump!)
Keep it well lit with a devoted LED lamp or headlight.
Keep all fuel cans well-marked! it should be very clear which buckets are for white gas, which bucket/can is for lamp oil, and which is for spin-offs.
Again, keep all fuel cans CLOSED AT ALL TIMES, except when you are actually fueling…there should NEVER be open fuel there, especially white gas.
Positioning and Crowd Control
A fire safety’s location in the fire spinning area is very important.
Your position should accomplish two things:
1) Allow you to quickly and efficiently respond to a worst-case scenario, and
2) Allows for communication with spinners and/or audience
Given that, it is usually best to position yourself directly in front of the fuel dump; this allows for quick intervention should fire ever come near the fuel, and puts you in a location where the spinners will be congregating so that you can communicate with them. (See MSPaint illustration below)
However, if you are spinning in a large venue that has many bystanders, and the fuel dump is located very well out of harm’s way, priorities might be a little different. You may want to position yourself between the spinner and the audience, as that would be the worst-case scenario. You may not be able to communicate with spinners as well, but it will make crowd control (which is much more important in this circumstance) easier. (See MSPaint illustration below)
These are not hard-and-fast rules, just ideas to keep in mind when safetying. There is no one right answer, and it is not necessary to stress about your location too much, it is just a good idea to keep in mind when trying to minimize the risk of danger.
Remember, if you are ever having difficulty addressing all of a fire safety’s issues, you can always have more than one safety!
Checking the Equipment and the Performer
Equipment should always be checked out before a spinning session, but this is especially true with poi. If you are spinning fire poi, make extra sure that ALL of the quicklinks on your aparatus are tightly shut, that the bolts on the ends of your heads are clearly fastened, and that the handles are in good working order.
The spinner should be wearing organic fibers (cotton, denim, wool, leather…or skin!), and his/her hair should be either moistened or covered with a hat or bandana.
Spinning off the excess fuel. When a wick is first soaked, it will become oversaturated with excessive amounts of fuel. This extra fuel is not necessary for spinning fire, and will more than likely spray off at the spinner and at bystanders during the spin. (In the cases of lamp oil, naphtha and kerosene, this is unwanted and unpleasant. In the cases of biodiesel and white gas, it is dangerous). There are different ways to handle each toy:
Poi: (or meteor, rope dart, or any ball-on-chain variation). Get an empty bucket with a handle. Insert the poi into the bucket, and wrap the chains around the handle. (The head of the poi should not be touching the bottom of the bucket, they should be suspended 2-4 inches above it). Clench the handle and the wrapped-around chain tightly and spin the bucket HARD for 5-10 spins. Try to generate as much centripetal force as possible. When finished, take the poi out and pour the excess fuel collected in the bucket back into the fuel container.
(Note: some people designate “spin-off areas” and shake the fuel onto the ground instead. While this approach is easier, it requires extra space that must be watched, it wastes fuel, and, in the cases of lamp oil and ESPECIALLY kerosene, it is slightly environmentally toxic. Please spin off in a bucket.)
Hoop: Fire hoops are a bit trickier. Soaking the fire hoop involves dipping each individual wick in a small container of fuel, and then either letting the extra fuel drip off or wringing it out. This will still leave a little bit of fuel in the heads, so it important to designate a small “spin-off area” and spin the remaining fuel off with the hoop oriented in a vertical fashion. (Note: while this is not a good idea for poi because there are other options, it is more acceptable for hoop because you can’t simply put the heads in a bucket and spin them off. Hoops also retain less fuel than poi, so on open-area spin off is not going to throw as much fuel around.
Staff: Staff is an exception. While staff wicks can be wrung out or spun off in a spin-off area like hoops and poi, staffs are typically lit soaking wet because the best method of clearing off the excess fuel is actually cleaner and reasonably safe when done on fire (not to mention, it looks amazing!) If you have ever seen a staff spinner start his routine off by throwing his staff up in the air and producing giant fire balls, this is what they’re doing. The move is called a “Staff Spin-Off”, and works like this:
Staff Spin-Off: Soak the staff’s ends. Place the center of the staff in the heel of your non-dominant hand, and put the fingertips of your dominant hand on top. Push forward with your dominant hand, and pull back with your non-dominant hand quickly while gently throwing the staff upwards. (This takes some practice) If done properly, the staff will leave your hand spinning rapidly, forcing the fuel off of the wicks. Because it leaves the wick in an even, atomized distribution, it will ignite evenly as well, causing an “explosion.”
Safety concerns: If done properly, this move is reasonably safe. The fuel leaving the staff will burn off so quickly that it will not have much opportunity to light anything else on fire. This being the case, make sure that 1) you always have your back facing the wind (if it is very windy, this move might be dangerous), 2) you have a reasonable distance between you and the bystanders, and 3) there are no trees or overhang above you. Please have an experienced member of The Fire Triangle show you how to do this before attempting it yourself.
Devil sticks and Juggling Clubs: Excess fuel is simple shaken off of the heads at the ground. The wicks are small and this is the easiest way to do it.
Now, there are some poi spinners who like to take a different approach, and spin the fuel off of their wicks while it is on fire, producing flaming, parallel lines that look dramatic and cool (this is something that can only be done with white gas). These are called Ground Trails. This can be done safely, but the following guidelines must be followed:
Ground Trail Guidleines
– CLEAR IT WITH THE HOST. It is very rude to show up at someone’s place an light their lawn on fire without asking permission to beforehand. No means no.
– MAKE SURE THE GROUND IS SAFE FOR FIRE. There should not be heavy dry debris or dry grass anywhere near the area. If there is and ground trails are allowed by the host, the area should either be raked or soaked beforehand. (Keep in mind that doing ground trails on VERY WET grass will make the trails spread more.)
– MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A SAFE DISTANCE. You want to make sure that you have a LOT of clearance for your ground trails. Ground trails require large outdoor spaces. Make sure that you are far away from the audience, and, more importantly, the fuel dump.
– MAKE SURE YOU ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING. If you haven’t practiced ground trails under someone who is experienced with them, don’t try them out with a big audience. It will look bad. Ground trails require a special kind of spin in order to direct the fuel downwards, and if done improperly you will send flying bits of fuel all over the place, and possibly at the audience. You don’t want to do this.
Extinguishing Toys
Many people are intimidated by the thought of wrapping their hands around giant, flaming torches with nothing between them and the fire by a thin sheet of colored fabric, but extinguishing fire toys is actually very easy.
Remember to let the fire blanket do the work. Leave the fire blanket laying wide open on the ground, with your hands gripping the edge away from the spinner. When the spinner comes to extinguish the flames, direct the torch heads to the center of the blanket, fold the blanket over the torches COMPLETELY, and then squeeze the blanket around the torches to that they “suffocate.” Block the flow of air from getting in. Once it feels like the flames have been extinguished, KEEP THEM UNDER THE BLANKET FOR AN EXTRA TEN SECONDS. Why? Even if the flames are fully extinguished, there might be bits of cotton in the wick that might still be burning. If a wick with burning cotton is introduced into a fuel can, it can cause a serious problem.
“Oh no! You’re on fire!”
Every now and then, and usually during the beginning of a spin, a performer will get some burning fuel on their body or clothes, and arouse a terrified reaction in the audience: “Oh no! You’re on fire!” There are two important perspectives that should be addressed here; one from the safety’s perspective and one from the performer’s.
NOTE: This happens almost exclusively with white gas. Lamp oil, kerosene, biodiesel and naphtha are not combustible or sticky enough to create the illusion of “being caught on fire.”
PERFORMER: Accidentally getting a bit of flaming fuel on you is actually going to look much worse than it feels. In fact, because of all the adrenaline, concentration and sensory distractions that fire spinning produces, it is very easy for it to go unnoticed entirely! Nevertheless, seeing someone catch part of their clothing or skin on fire is frightening to many audience members, and it is essential to learn how to deal with such a situation in a way that tells the audience that incidents such as these are not catastrophic and that they have no need to worry about the performer, or the art of fire spinning as a whole.
HOW TO DEAL WITH THE SITUATION: BE ALERT, AND BE CALM. Remember that most of these incidents occur during the beginning of a spin, when the wicks have the most fuel. During this time, try to be a receptive to the audience’s and safety’s reactions. If you hear commotion,
1) Stop what you’re doing
2) Acknowledge the fire
3) Put it out calmly. (There is an art to this, by the way. If you accidentally catch yourself on fire, try to laugh about it, and pat it out in a comical or theatrical fashion. Make it part of the act.)
HOW TO AVOID THIS: Remember to start your spins off slowly. Slow spinning for the first 30-45 seconds of the burn is good for two reasons: 1) it is dramatic and looks great when contrasted with the increased tempo that will come later, and 2) it allows the excessive fuel to burn off in a controlled and safe fashion, and leaves you much less susceptible to lighting yourself on fire.
FIRE SAFETY: Rule #1: DON’T PANIC. 90% of these “being caught on fire incidents” will actually resolve themselves before you even have time to put them out. Yelling “YOU’RE ON FIRE! YOU’RE ON FIRE!” is not going to do anything besides make the art and scene look uncontrolled and dangerous, and make you look like a basket case.
The first thing to do is distinguish between a case that needs intervention and a case that doesn’t.
A case that doesn’t need immediate intervention (Most of the situations will be like this)
The performer has “tapped” him/herself with the wick and has a splotch of fire on his/her clothing or skin. S/he may not even notice, even if the bystanders are reacting.
CORRECT REACTION: Say in an affirmative, but calm voice that is just loud enough for the performer to hear: “Hair’s on fire,” or “Pants on fire.” Stand by, but don’t rush in. Let them react and put it out. If they don’t react and the problem persists for another five seconds, step in and smother the fire with the blanket (it is unlikely that this will happen)
A case that does need immediate intervention (very rare)
The performer has either unwittingly soaked him/herself in fuel, loaded gigantic toys with an unreasonable amount of fuel, or is doing something ridiculous while intoxicated, and has lit a significant portion of his body on fire.
CORRECT REACTION: Shout “STOP,” move in, and smother the flaming body part. Remove them from the spinning area. Put out their toys (if possible), or let them burn off until you can put them out.
Conducting “Virgin Sacrifices”
Your first burn is always a magical occasion! Initiating someone into fire spinning is something that should be done only by experienced fire spinners; one year of fire spinning experience, minimum. People initiating new burners should also have a good knowledge of fire safety themselves.
The golden rule of initiating someone is this: assume that they know absolutely nothing about what they are doing, and are scared shitless. They don’t, and they are. Below are a few tips on how to do this:
- Be sure that they have not been drinking. Intoxication is an automatic no-no.
- Make sure they have a reasonable skill level with their toys. For poi, they should be able to do 4-6 moves cleanly. For staff, they should be reasonably comfortable handling the toy gracefully. For hoop, they should be able to keep the hoop up on their waist indefinitely.
- Make sure they are wearing organic fibers (cotton, wool, denim, leather) and not synthetic fibers (polyester, rayon, etc)
- Make sure that their hair is either covered tightly, or is soaked with water. Make sure they are NOT wearing hairspray.
- Give them the toy that they will be using (pick something with small wicks). Have them try spinning it unsoaked for a little while to get used to the weight and feel.
- Soak the toy, and explain to them what you are doing as you do it. Lamp oil is preferable to white gas, if available.
- Spin off the excess fuel in whatever matter appropriate. Do NOT allow them to do spin-offs, ground trails or any of the crazy fuel tricks.
- Hand the spun-off toy to them, still unlit, and have them spin it again, getting used to the new weight.
- Remind them to stick to very basic tricks and not to go fast. Tell them that you will be watching them carefully, that they have nothing to worry about, and they can simply drop the toy on the ground and walk away at any time they like.
- Call attention from the community! Shout “Virgin Sacrifice!” Generate enthusiasm and encouragement.
- Light them up and safety them VERY closely. They should always feel like they are being supported.
- When they finish, start a round of applause and give them a hug. Make sure they feel special 🙂
Emergency Situations
Yes it is true; playing with fire is dangerous and you can get hurt. In fact, there’s a pretty good chance that you will at some point. It is important for fire spinners and especially safeties to have a firm understanding of the potential dangers, and how to address them. (This information has been taken from burnsurvivor.com)
Burns
First-degree burns are red and very sensitive to touch, and the skin will appear blanched when light pressure is applied. First-degree burns involve minimal tissue damage and they involve the epidermis (skin surface). These burns affect the outer-layer of skin causing pain, redness and swelling. Sunburn is a good example of a first-degree burn.
Symptoms
- Redness
- Mild Pain
Second degree burns affect both the outer-layer (epidermis) and the under lying layer of skin (dermis) causing redness, pain, swelling and blisters. These burns often affect sweat glands, and hair follicles. If a deep second-degree burn is not properly treated, swelling and decreased blood flow in the tissue can result in the burn becoming a third-degree burn.
It is important to understand that second degree burns can range in size and severity. Most of the second degree burns that occur from fire spinning are very small, and are either the result of searing (making skin contact with the metal parts of the toy) or short, intense heat localized on a small area. However, there can also be severe second-degree burns that need to be treated more like third degree burns.
Symptoms
- Redness
- Swelling (blisters)
- Pain
- Peeling skin
Third-degree burns affect the epidermis, dermis and hypodermis, causing charring of skin or a translucent white color, with coagulated vessels visible just below the skin surface. These burn areas may be numb, but the person may complain of pain. This pain is usually because of second-degree burns. Healing from third-degree burns is very slow due the skin tissue and structures being destroyed. Third-degree burns usually result in extensive scarring.
Symptoms
- Redness
- Swelling
- Pain
- Peeling skin
- Shock (pale, clammy skin, weakness, bluish lips and finger nails)
- White or charred skin
First Aid
First Aid for Minor Burns: (First-Degree and very minor Second Degree)
- If the skin is not broken, run cool water over the burned area or soak it in a cool water (NOT ICE WATER).
- After flushing or soaking the burn for several minutes, cover the burn with a sterile non-adhesive bandage or clean cloth.
- Protect the burn from friction and pressure.
- Minor burns will usually heal without further treatment.
First Aid for Not-So-Minor Burns: (Second Degree burns)
- Gently clean the wound with lukewarm water.
- Burns can be painful, reassure the victim and keep them calm.
- Rings, bracelets, and other potentially constricting articles should be removed (edema, or swelling from inflammation may occur and the item may cut into the skin).
- The burn may be dressed with a topical antibiotic ointment like Bacitracin or Neosporin.
- Cover the burn with a sterile non-adhesive bandage or clean cloth.
- Protect the burn from friction and pressure. Remind the victim NOT to pick at the wound, or it could get infected.
- Over-the-counter pain medications may be used to help relieve pain; they may also help reduce inflammation and swelling.
- If there is concern that the burn is deeper and may be second or third degree in nature, medical care should be accessed.
First Aid for Severe Burns: (Large, Advanced Second & Third-Degree)
- DO NOT remove burnt clothing (unless it comes off easily), but do ensure that the victim is not in contact with burning or smoldering materials.
- Make sure the victim is breathing. If breathing has stopped or the victim’s airway is blocked then open the airway and if necessary begin CPR.
- If the victim is breathing, cover the burn with a cool moist sterile bandage or clean cloth. DO NOT use a blanket or towel; a sheet is best for large burns. DO NOT apply any ointments and avoid breaking blisters.
- If fingers or toes have been burned, separate them with dry sterile, non-adhesive dressings.
- Elevate the burned area and protect it from pressure or friction.
- Take steps to prevent shock. Lay the victim flat elevate the feet about 12 inches, and cover the victim with a coat or blanket. DO NOT place the victim in the shock position if a head, neck, back, or leg injury is suspected or if it makes the victim uncomfortable.
- Continue to monitor the victim’s vital signs (breathing, pulse, blood pressure).
DO NOT
- DO NOT apply ointment, butter, ice, medications, fluffy cotton dressing, adhesive bandages, cream, oil spray, or any household remedy to a burn. This can interfere with proper healing.
- DO NOT allow the burn to become contaminated. Avoid breathing or coughing on the burned area.
- DO NOT disturb blisters or dead skin.
- DO NOT apply cold compresses and DO NOT immerse a severe burn in cold water. This can cause shock.
- DO NOT place a pillow under the victim’s head if there is an airway burn and they are lying down. This can close the airway.