Forums > Help! > indoor fire regulations

Posted: 9th Jun 2009
where are you based? There are different insurance companies in different countries. Your local fire authority could give you the best info on details for your particular venues and situations, but just know that indoor use is REALLY restricted in most places.

here's a good place to check yourself, if you are in the US: https://www.nafaa.org/

"to a man whose only tool is a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail." Abraham Maslow

Posted: 10th Jun 2009
...if you're in the UK you need to get insurance to start with!

There are a couple of choices and if you do a durbs.... I mean do a search then you can find various threads on which one to go for

I think most people opt for either Equity or Tower Gate (used to be Country Mutual) insurance and its going to set you back around £165 - £200 per year.

As to venue requirements... unfortunately in the UK this is regulated by local authorities and as such can vary from venue to venue.

Anyway let us know where you are based and do a search on these forums and you should get what you're looking for!

Hope that helps a little

"Whats wrong with the cat?" - Mrs Schrödinger

Posted: 10th Jun 2009
thanks i'm based in the uk yes.just didnt have a clue where to start. can you tell me about fire arts licensing? xx
EDITED_BY: lailalux (1244633340)

Posted: 10th Jun 2009
There is no UK wide licensing as such!!!

However individual local authorities may require venues to be certified and in some cases fire spinners are classed as a pyrotechinc performance.

If you are doing it in the street then you might have to have a buskers license or street artists license.. this can vary from just applying to having to go through auditions.

You have to confirm all of these regulations before EVERY performance basically!

The more effort you put into safety the easier it is to get all the relevant permissions. Go and speak to your local fire service thats usually a good start as they are often the ones who regulate the venue licenses for pyrotechnic work. Things like first aid certificates and certificates for fire extinguishers help... but you MUST have insurance.

Do a search on these forums for fire safety and regulations I'm sure there is already tons of material on here...

Be prepared for a lot of paperwork and conflicting advice!!!

"Whats wrong with the cat?" - Mrs Schrödinger

Posted: 11th Jun 2009
thanks i've pass my fire safety & fire marshall exam which i'm hoping will go in my favour. i've also passed my 1st aid, defib & health & saftey level 1&2. i'm a nurse by day & fire performer by night so i'm a pretty safe person lol. thanks for your help i'll get right on it xx

Posted: 11th Jun 2009
Sadly, and this isn't meant to deflate you, the first aid stuff won't count for anything with regards to fire performance.

As Tom (Fearpig) says above - it's heavily venue specific.

Theatres are the "easiest" to perform with as they're heavily fire-proofed as a matter of course - I had to do a Risk Assesment for performing inside a Grade 2 listed building worth £30m (no pressure...) - aside from the marshall wanting me to add an extra split ring to each end of my poi, this was easy.

Then having to abort an outdoor fire performance in a field bereft of anything remotely flammable due to H&S... There's no set rules.

As a matter of course, you'll need insurance (£2m, or nowadays if working for any County Council £5m), a requirement of which is you conduct and produce a written site survey and risk assesment.
Discuss this with the venue and they'll speak to their insurance company to see who else they want to get involved (their own fire officer, an external fire consulant, council H&S people...)

Other things to consider are your fuel (generally paraffin is too smokey/smelly to use indoors), your fuelling and spin-off point, your route on/off stage, extinguishing area, dedicated fire-safety person (ideally someone who knows what you're doing).

In short, the key thing to getting approved is a full Risk Assesment and to keep everyone happy, a written Method Statement (saying what you do, how you do it, why you do it).

Burner of Toast
Spinner of poi
Slacker of enormous magnitude

Posted: 15th Jun 2009
thanks that very helpful xx

Posted: 30th Jul 2009
Keep me posted on how your double life is working out. Hopefully I'll be an RN within 2 years ^_^ I work the night shift now though, so I'll be a nurse by night and a fire performers... also by night, lol.

Don't mind me, just passing through.