SAFETY: Open Flame on Stage

[Celeste_SM]

I've primarily worked in a venue that does not allow any open flame on stage, period. Because of this, I haven't had to deal flame issues since college (and that's pretty long ago). I remember, back in college, that they paid a fireman to sit backstage with a fire extinguisher for a show with a lit cigarette on stage. But that was a different fire district and long ago.

I'm going into a show at a new (to me) venue. The show includes fire-eating by an experienced fire eating performer, complete with fellow performers standing by with a fire extinguisher. The theater manager is fine with it, as long as the fire marshal is fine with it. I want to make sure everybody is safe and that we are not breaking any laws.

My question: normally whose responsiblity is it to reach out to the fire marshal to find out the local regulations and any special requirements? Is this normally done by the producer? Production manager? Stage manager? Somebody else? Right now the ball has been put in my court to discuss the issue with the local fire marshal. 

[bex]

My feeling is that this is an issue that either the production manager or the technical director would handle.

[SMLois]

On my current show we have fire and it went through the Production Manager.  Though we don't have a fireman backstage with an extinguisher, we do have an ASM in the wings standing by and there is water strategically hidden on stage in case of emergency.

[MatthewShiner]

Production Manager is responsible for this.

[On_Headset]

If you want a bit more rationale:
- Compliance is an easier process if you designate responsibilities. In most cases, compliance is split neatly in two: the SM is responsible for keeping track of rules concerning hours of work, acceptable duties, acceptable working conditions, etc.; and the PM is responsible for rules concerning construction safety, effect safety, and other things in that vein. There is some overlap here (if the SM sees an unsafe element of the set, they have the authority to follow up on it), but having designated roles means you avoid the "Bob thought Jim was going to take care of it, and Jim thought Bob..." scenario.
- The PM has a phone line and an office and a desk and office hours and the time and resources necessary to draw up contracts, consult with authorities, disburse funds, and so on. The SM doesn't, at least not without running everything through production management anyway.

[Celeste_SM]

Thanks for the info, all!