New Portland Fire Dancing Rules

Interesting story:

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/08/post_260.html

Portland fire dancers, from poi handlers to strippers, face new rules
Published: Tuesday, August 21, 2012, 8:40 PM Updated: Tuesday, August 21, 2012, 8:51 PM
By Devin Kelly, The Oregonian

Portland Fire Chief Erin Janssens strides to the far corner of her office, steps around a maple desk and reaches behind a display of Oregon and U.S. flags to retrieve a 5-foot-long metal baton.

The baton is lightweight, wrapped in yellow and black tape, and holds flammable wicks on each end.

"This," said Janssens, holding it up, "is a fire baton. Have you ever handled one?"

The baton is a trophy of sorts in Janssens' tug of war with Portland performers who use fire on stages and street corners.

Alarmed by the growing popularity of the practice at events such as Northeast Alberta Street's Last Thursday festival, the Fire Bureau one year ago introduced new restrictions on fire dancing. The most controversial: keeping performers at least 25 feet from the audience, a much wider berth than the 15 feet allowed under existing rules.

The 25-foot rule, more stringent than limits set in other major cities, prompted an immediate outcry.

"We've been doing safe shows for years," said Maquette Reeverts, who leads Friends of Last Thursday on Alberta and co-founded the performance troupe Rose City Vaudeville. "The fire marshal is really writing the policy for the lowest common denominator."

Bureau officials say they want to work with venues to find a middle ground. The bureau recently introduced a process for venues to bypass the 25-foot rule if they can prove they can do it safely. Janssens, who was fire marshal until her promotion to chief in June, said the restrictions are essential to keep people safe.

Although no major injuries have been reported over the years in Portland, officials commonly cite the notorious Station Nightclub fire in Rhode Island in 2003, when fire used in a rock act got out of control and left 100 people dead.

Janssens was at a Last Thursday event in 2010 and saw fuel flying off a dancer's poi, a traditional performance tool from New Zealand consisting of a flaming ball swung on the end of a chain.

"I was really seeing problems that prompted us to say, 'Wow, what is our policy? We really need to re-examine that,'" Janssens said.

Artists push back

One Wednesday night in July, Reeverts stood on a stage in a vacant Alberta Street lot known as the Vagabond's Theater.

"I don't know if you've all heard," Reeverts said to an audience of about 30. "There's a new fire policy."

Reeverts had special permission from the Fire Bureau to allow the audience to sit 15 feet from the stage. But to illustrate the effects of the new rule on other acts, Reeverts pointed toward the back of the lot, where her troupe had marked the 25-foot line with chalk and cones. That's where the audience would have to sit.

The crowd showered Reeverts with boos.

Performers say that because the 25-foot rule reduces the space available for audience members, particularly at indoor venues, it can limit the size of the audience and cut into ticket sales.

There are other restrictions. Performers must have two spotters standing by with wet towels; the old rule called for just one. A venue now must have sprinklers and a 12-foot ceiling above the stage.

Seven Portland venues hold permits under the new rules, the Fire Bureau says. They include spaces ranging from the Vagabond's Theater to the front plaza of the Oregon Convention Center, which held a fire-walking event in the spring. The campus of Lewis & Clark College has a permit to accommodate a fire arts club and a spring luau, said Jason Feiner, director of student activities.

Some venues had no problem adapting to the new rules. Phil Hearne of the Bossanova Ballroom said it's up to venue managers to adjust.

"If you need to pull out a row of seats to be in compliance, then you do so," Hearne said.

But some venues with fire performance permits faced higher hurdles.

One of those was the Devil's Point strip club in Southeast Portland, where Jaime Eisenschmidt, who goes by the stage name Ivizia, used fire as a major feature of her act until the club's permit expired June 20. Devil's Point, along with the popular Dante's nightclub in downtown Portland, did not meet the new sprinkler and distance requirements.

Eisenschmidt, sitting at a wooden table outside Devil's Point on a recent Monday evening, said the roller skates she was wearing were her new onstage "shtick." But she said it's not quite the same as when she used fire -- or as lucrative.

"You know, I want my job back," Eisenschmidt said. "It's important to me. I know that with performing, there's an expiration date. But I want that to be on my terms, not on anybody else's."

Looking to Hawaii

When Portland began looking to update a 2001 policy on performing with fire, officials took cues from a place that has extensive experience with fire performers: Hawaii. That state's entertainment market features an array of traditional Polynesian and modern shows that incorporate fire.

Many cities on the U.S. mainland set 15 feet as the minimum distance between performers and audience. Honolulu for several years has required performers to stay 25 feet from the audience, said Terry Seelig, spokesman for the Honolulu Fire Department.

Seelig said the city doesn't consider the rule overly restrictive on performance with fire.

"It's more toward allowing it to be as robust and as fruitful as possible with the concept of safety regulations," Seelig said.

To address concerns about Portland's new rules, the Fire Bureau on Aug. 8 introduced a more affordable permit option and procedures that allow performers to request looser restrictions. Fire officials said they are also advising business owners how to meet the new requirements.

Despite those accommodations, some performers have pledged to keep fighting the 25-foot rule. An online petition circulated in May drew more than 2,000 signatures.

Meanwhile, the fire baton in Janssens' office serves as a reminder of a particular Last Thursday on Northeast Alberta.

Janssens said fire inspectors were about to issue a citation to a fire dancer who was violating safety guidelines. The man packed up and left before he could get a ticket, but he left the baton behind.

Janssens said she'd be happy to trade the baton back.

"If he wants to come forward and get that citation," Janssens said with a smile, "I will give him that."

-- Devin Kelly
© 2012 OregonLive.com. All rights reserved.

My son and I did a fire dance once for a 60 person luau. We built months learning and practicing, built our own fire batons - and lit the lawn on fire during the performance :lol:

No damage was done but could have been. I am a reasonably intellegent person and used due diligence but still had an unforeseen event. I could see that some regulation would be a good idea.