Safety Third! Taking Precautions While Fire Spinning

My friend Matt is a fire spinner, has been for several years.  As a joke, stitched into his Duvetyne cloth (the flame-retardant cloth spinners use to put out errant flames) are the words "Safety Third"  (I asked what first and second are; he told me "audience" and "performance").  Cute joke, but in all honesty, safety is really crucial when fire spinning.  

As my friend Joe says, burns are somewhat of an "occupational hazard" (like any of us are getting paid for this -- though I do know some people who do...).  Most times, burns don't go beyond singeing your hair or eyebrows, if you are careful and have a safety spotting you at all times.  There are several steps you can take to assure that you are as safe as possible while fire spinning.

1) Wear natural materials -- no polyester.  As any knitter will tell you, polyester or acrylic yarn (and fabric) is not naturally flame-retardant (unless it has been treated).  When a natural material like wool or cotton catches on fire, it will catch slowly, and wool will often self-extinguish (not that you'll be giving it enough time to).  Acrylic and other plastic-based materials will melt and adhere to the skin -- which is very painful and requires professional removal from medical personnel.  And it hurts.  Wear cottons, linens, wools, denims -- any natural fabric.

2)  Limit the use of alcohol-based sprays and aerosols.  This includes hairspray, mousse, perfumes, and some bug sprays.  All of these are combustible, so if you're piling them on before fire spinning, you run the risk of igniting yourself.

3) "Spin-off" your performance articles after dipping them in fuel.  Often, when you dip the wicks into the fuel, the wicks soak up much more fuel than necessary.  To eliminate excess fuel, spin your performance object very quickly (I usually put one finger through the hole handle of my fan and spin it very fast), so you can either see (or feel) the fuel spinning off it.  This will eliminate the risk of fuel dripping down the object to your hands or skin.

4) Always have a safety.  Your safety should be someone who stands a few feet away from you with a flame-retardant cloth (about 2' by 2') and who keeps his or her eyes on you at all times throughout your performance, in case a trick goes awry and you catch something on fire.  If the safety sees errant flames, he or she should yell "DOWN" (not "FIRE" for obvious reasons), which will be the sign for you to immediately drop whatever performance article you have.  The safety will then use the cloth to first extinguish any flames on your person, and then (if necessary) extinguish the flames on the performance article.  Never spin without a safety.  Even when you are just practicing in your own back yard.  David and I take turns.

5) Always spin fire outdoors and away from pets or children.  This should go without saying, I know.  Keep all pets either tethered or held a safe distance away, and keep children away.  I have never spun in front of children before, but I have spun in front of animals, and you'd be surprised how many dogs think that fire spinning is SO AWESOME.  Or they think their masters are in danger and try to run to them.  It's best to not spin with animals there until you know how they're going to react to the flames...and even then, have them on a leash or tether for their own protection.

6) Know your props/fire toys, and choose accordingly.  When first learning how to spin, it is nice to start with a "stationary" toy, such as a fan or a staff, that has no movable parts.  In layman's terms, when you light the wicks of a fan, or a staff, they stay a continuous distance from your body.  Where you spin the fire, it will stay.  However, if you are using fire poi (wicks on the ends of dangling chains), you have less control over where you are spinning your fire.  I had a friend this past weekend at Wildfire light himself on fire with his poi, and he's been spinning for over a year now.  Start small.

From FireMecca.com

6a) LED toys are your friends!  If you don't think you're ready to spin fire (good for you for listening to your inner voice!), but you still want to spin, LED toys are definitely your friends.  LED toys are like regular toys, except that they have LED lights built-in.  You can get some ridiculously pretty results using LED props -- one of my favorite things this weekend was a "fire and ice" hoop, which had both LED lights and fire wicks.  The result looked like the picture to the right.  Awesome, no?

LED toys are great for learning how to spin, or spinning in places where fire is not welcome (such as your rented apartment backyard, if you don't happen to have a sympathetic landlord, or indoors).  You get beautiful results, it looks badass, you can practice to your heart's content, and you don't run the risk of hurting yourself or others.

Finally...7) Ask for help!  If you want to get into fire spinning, but you're not sure how to start, ask a fellow spinner!  Seriously, I don't know anyone who spins fire that doesn't want to help other people get involved and see how cool and fun it really is.  I joined a FB group yesterday for spinners in my home state (Connecticut), and someone else posted that she wanted to learn fire breathing.  Within minutes, two people had jumped in and commented that they'd be happy to help her learn. 

Stick to all of the above, and you'll be well on your way to spinning safely!