Kudos to you for pointing out this valuable information, especially for young or inexperienced producers, who are often dealing with issues such as this for the first time. As a FX and Stunt production specialist, all issues of work place safety become super critical when dealing with pyro and other effects – though highly controlled and backed by safety procedures designed to immediately halt a given effect or stunt, when you introduce humans into the equation, sometimes the unexpected can unfortunately occur.

Often, on small budget projects you can walk the set and quickly discover that NO ONE has even considered the “what ifs” and taken necessary precautions – and even in a scene as mundane as a fry cook over a griddle full of burgers, fire is waiting – and the right mix of fuel, O2 and a spark is all it takes to get someone hurt or damage a location. (You don’t extinguish a grease fire the same way you do a grass fire, and that realization is critical to arresting a situation that could quickly get out of control, injuring cast, crew and location…there goes your insurance premiums…)

As a producer, it is my job to shoot the project out, on time and on budget, but it is also my paramount professional obligation to my cast and crew that the work environment is safe and that we mitigate any and all conceivable dangers to the extent humanly possible. You shouldn’t have your life placed in jeopardy just to get the shot.

Your point regarding access is spot on – I was once doing a 3/4 body burn, near a lake shore. When it was over, I was so thankful that the stunt was staged by this body of water, even though it was bitterly cold. The reason?

The personnel with the fire extinguishers had a hard time getting to me. We rehearsed it, and I knew that with the camera team and the other actor in their end position, I was virtually cut off until the director yelled cut. Right as the stunt went off, the wind changed direction as I was staggering along on fire waiting for another actor to shoot me EXACTLY three times…well, by the time that action had occurred, the wind had really pushed the fire into over drive and I was getting scorched and running out of air…I am sure you can see where this is going….rather than waiting for the crew to clear on “cut” and just standing there roasting, I dove for the water and even though it was cold, it was the best swim I had in a long time!! When it was over, my skin was red on one side of my entire body. Thus, even when you know what you are doing, things can get a little scary when you play with fire literally.

Learn fire safety – employ fire safety on set…and be hardcore about it. Humans are just like toast – you cant “un-burn” them.

You should do another article about the dangers of misuse when it comes to cranes, cherry pickers, etc. That is another area where inexperience or inattentive performance can jeopardize production and put people in harms way.

Stay safe!
RFS

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