Fire Breathing: Introduction and Dispelling Myths

With the recent explosion of fire breathing videos on the internet I felt that something needed to be said. Videos are popping up on sites like YouTube and Metacafe that feature inexperienced fire breathers playing Russian Roulette with an art that they know very little about. Personally, I'm concerned about their safety. But most importantly, I'm concerned for the safety of those who are encouraged by watching these videos.

I've been breathing fire professionally for nearly seven years now. It is the most dangerous of all of the fire performing arts. But in all of my years of fire breathing, I've never seen anything more dangerous than what these people are doing in their videos. This article is for anyone who might be thinking about taking up the art of fire breathing. Read this first, and then make your decision.

Fuels of the Fire

Gasoline:

One of the biggest misconceptions about fire breathers is that they use gasoline in their act. Nothing could be further from the truth. Gasoline is highly flammable and potentially explosive. It is never used in any part of a fire breather's act. Period!

Cornstarch:

I cannot tell you how many people that I've seen in these videos blowing mouthfuls of cornstarch into an open flame. Do not do this! The risk of accidentally inhaling powdered cornstarch into the lungs is far too great. Can you imagine suffocating to death on a mass of mucus soaked cornstarch?

Alcohol:

Alcohol fires spread rapidly and burn long after their ignition source has been removed. They are also extremely difficult to extinguish. I've seen too many amateur fire breathers catch their entire heads on fire with whiskey. This is about the time when panic sets in and the camera man stops the video. It's a good thing too, because I really don't want to see what happens next.

As a sidebar, alcohol dulls the senses when absorbed into the bloodstream. Concentration and coordination are two of the most important skills that a fire breather can possess. A drunken fire breather is not a safe one!

Paraffin:

The fuel of choice for professional fire breathers is 100% liquid paraffin, otherwise known as lamp oil. It's non-toxic in low doses and will only burn when wicked or atomized.

The Training

Being a good fire breather takes training and a lot of it. The first skill that you have to master is atomizing liquid passed pursed lips. The technique is harsh and incorporates muscles in the mouth, throat and diaphragm in a way that they have never been used before. I was made to practice with water until I got it right. After my first two weeks of training I ended up with double ear infections. Both of my ear drums had become inflamed because of all of the pressure that I was putting on them. This eventually led to an infection. It took a bottle of antibiotics, two doctor's visits and a month off to fully recover.

After a year with the water, I was finally allowed to start atomizing paraffin into an open flame. It was exhilarating at first, but at the end of a full day of practice, my whole face was chaffed from flash burn. I nursed a blistered face for two weeks before I was allowed to return to practice.

The Safety

Professional fire performers incorporate safeties into their act. These are people who stand by and keep an eye on us during our performance. A safety's duties go far beyond the scope of this article, but I can assure you that their importance is never underestimated. Your safety is the person who is going to save your life if something should ever go wrong.

The Danger

Human Candles:

You've heard the old saying that, "if you play with fire, you might get burned"? It'll do you good to remember that. Paraffin only burns well when it is wicked. Unfortunately that is exactly what the human body is, one big wick. Skin and hair absorb the oil in paraffin like a sponge, and fire breathers usually end up bathing in the stuff. Too much paraffin build up can cause the skin and hair to catch fire. We usually carry dry towels with us to wipe the excess paraffin off of our head, face and torso to prevent this from happening.

Blowbacks:

Fire breathers are trained to hold their breath for three seconds after each burn, and then exhale what's left quickly through the mouth. This is done to extinguish any fire that may have blown back inside the mouth during the burn. If this happens, and you inhale that flame, it will enter your lungs, use up all of the oxygen there and collapse them. At this point there really isn't much that your safety can do for you.

Chemical Pneumonia:

After each burn a light haze of paraffin will hang in the air directly in front of you. We try to minimize how much of this we breathe into our lungs, but some still gets in. This causes more damage to the lungs than smoking does, and can eventually lead to chemical pneumonia.

These are just a few of the many hazards that a fire breather faces. So if you're thinking about taking up the art, first ask yourself why. Would any answer to that question be worth risking your life over? If so, then find a professional fire breather to train with. Whatever you do, don't go fire breathing just because you saw someone doing it on the internet.