Required Documentation for Level 1 Open Fire

For Level 1 open fire projects the following items of documentation must be submitted for review and approval by the Fire Arts Safety Team (FAST).

Note that if you are incorporating pyrotechnics into your burn, there are additional documentation requirements for Pyrotechnics.

Burn Scenario

Your burn scenario is a complete, detailed description of how you will prepare and burn your artwork, how you will mitigate any hazards that remain in the immediate aftermath of the burn, and any other elements you will incorporate into your burn. This is the “what” and the “how” of your burn plan. It should include details such as:

  • Artwork materials & construction
  • Objects to be removed from the structure before burning
  • Structural hobbling to encourage the structure to fall in a particular way
  • Supplementary fuel load (i.e., cordwood)
  • Pyrotechnic or other special effects elements, if any
  • Performance elements, if any
  • Burn circle zones and perimeter details
  • Accelerants to be used, how they will be applied, and the safety protocols your crew will follow during application
  • How the burn will be ignited
  • Weather contingency plan (see below)
  • How you will mitigate hazards on the ground after the structure falls
  • Your contingency plan in case the structure does not fall
  • Overnight monitoring of the ember bed

Weather Contingency Plan

All burns are subject to cancellation or rescheduling in the event of adverse weather conditions. An essential part of your burn scenario is your weather contingency plan, which covers how you will deal with the possibility that weather conditions could develop that would prevent the burn from proceeding after pyrotechnic materials have been loaded and/or after fueling has taken place. An all-night standby is an essential part of this plan. You and your entire crew must be prepared to maintain the perimeter to keep the restricted zone from being entered once it has been loaded with pyrotechnics or accelerants, to avoid any unintended burning or participant injury.

Burn Timeline

Your burn timeline lays out the steps involved in executing your burn from start to finish, with the expected start time and duration for each step. This is the “when” and the “how long” of your burn plan. It should include any relevant steps such as:

  • Perimeter establishment
  • Clearing structure contents
  • Cordwood loading
  • Structural hobbling
  • Pyro loading
  • Stowaway/straggler check
  • Weather check
  • Accelerant application
  • Performance
  • Pyrotechnics show
  • Ignition
  • Combustion and collapse
  • Hazard mitigation
  • Perimeter release
  • Crew accounting and check-out
  • Overnight monitoring

Note that the items above are listed in the approximate order of occurrence for a typical burn. Every burn is unique, and your burn may have additional steps and/or a different order.

Required Diagrams

The following Diagrams are required:

  1. Burn circle layout, including:
    • How the installation, including generators or other outlying features, will be illuminated at night
    • Burn zones and your proposed perimeter, showing distances from the center of the artwork
    • Pyro details (mortar locations, fire control station)
    • Perimeter features, e.g., safety corridors, rally point, etc.
    • Any other important physical features or locations
  2. Burn shield platform, if not using decomposed granite
  3. Structural details and hobbling if you intend to do any hobbling of the structure before burning
  4. Special effects mechanisms to be used during your burn (e.g., liquid fuel dumps, etc.)

Operational Plans

Safety Plan

Your safety plan should describe all the measures that your crew will employ to ensure that your installation will be safe for participants, performers and crew, both during and after construction, and during any burn and subsequent clean-up. At a minimum it should cover:

  • Illumination and protection from vehicle traffic for all elements of the installation, including the artwork itself and any generators or other outlying equipment or structures
  • Types, sizes and placement of fire extinguishers or other fire suppression means that will be kept on hand
  • Location and contents of first aid kit(s)
  • List of Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) to be kept on hand
  • Safety training your crew members have
  • Safety-specific crew roles and responsibilities
  • Safety procedures and protocols

Emergency Response Plan

No matter how comprehensive your safety plan, things still go wrong. Your eEmergency response plan should list all the ways things may go wrong and expose your crew or other participants to potential injury, and how your crew will respond when they do. At a minimum it should cover:

  • Response to liquid fuel spills, small and large
  • Response to unplanned fires, small and large
  • Response to damage (or incipient damage) caused by wind, vehicle collision or other physical forces
  • Response to hazardous material exposure of crew, performer or participant
  • Response to injury sustained by crew, performer or participant

Leave No Trace (LNT) Plan

The artist, Leave No Trace (LNT) Lead and crew are responsible for all clean up at the installation site during build, during the event and after your burn. Your LNT plan describes how you will accomplish this. At a minimum it should cover:

  • Preventing and removing matter out of place (MOOP) during build and burn preparations, especially wood chips from construction or from cordwood
  • Nightly clean-up procedure
  • Post-burn clean-up procedure, including specific details on clean-up of any pyrotechnic debris, if applicable
  • Emergency clean-up procedures (e.g., for liquid fuel spills)
  • Clean-up tools and materials to be used