How did you become interested in fire?

Well, I’ve always hula-hooped, and then the person that I took lessons from used to perform with a circus group, and so I guess that’s how I learned, and I just got into it from her.

Why do you like doing fire stunts?

It’s really fun, and it’s not even so much for entertaining people, but it’s just really fun to do for myself sometimes. It’s one of those things you can kind of get lost in because especially whenever I hula-hoop with fire, you can kind of dance with it, so you can kind of get lost with it, and then the fire just kind of adds another fun, cool element to it.

What is doing these stunts like?

With the fire eating, that one’s fun, and it’s not as scary, but with the hula hoop, it’s moving really fast, and it gets really close to you (as it’s) constantly moving, so that one makes me nervous sometimes.

How do you do these fire stunts?

With the eating, it’s not as scary as most people would think once you get over it being close to your face, and then you extinguish it in your mouth. It sounds frightening, but it’s not as scary once you’re used to it. I use campfire fuel and dip Kevlar wicks in it so that the flame burns on the wick with the fuel. So I don’t keep it in my mouth or anything like some other people that blow fire, so then it just stays on the wick. Sometimes you can taste it whenever you extinguish the fire, but that’s about it.

How dangerous do you think some of the stunts are?

They can be pretty dangerous if you don’t know the right way to go about doing it, so it’s a good idea to be trained by somebody instead of just experimenting with it because a lot of people ask how I got into it, and they’re like, “Oh, could I do that?” and I’m just like, “No, you really need to be trained by somebody.” You just have to be careful. With the hoop, (it’s) making sure it’s moving fast around you so that it doesn’t stay in one place too long to catch your clothes or anything else on fire, and you want to practice a lot without the fire on the wicks so you can kind of know how it moves and make sure you don’t hit yourself with it, and with the torches, it’s just very important whenever you’re breathing, depending on how close or far away it is from your face, like how you breathe that in.

How do you avoid injury?

I always have someone spotting me with a wet towel, especially whenever I’m hula-hooping, I always have someone standing by me or close to me with that towel so if for some reason, part of my clothes do catch on fire, they can run over with that real quick, and then I also have another towel laying down so whenever I’m done I can lay the hoop down and fold it over and extinguish the flames. (For fire eating,) although it sounds dangerous, it’s probably not as dangerous as the hoop, so I always make sure I’m not by myself doing it, always have someone else there and a towel to put out the flame. Because it’s a small flame, you don’t need anything (too) extensive.

What’s your favorite stunt and why?

The fire eating and being able to extinguish the flame with my mouth (is my favorite). I think I like it because it’s a lot harder of the tricks that I can do, so it’s just kind of a feeling of accomplishment whenever I’m able to do it, I guess.

What thoughts or comments would you like to share with readers?

It’s important not to just decide to try it one day. It’s important to be trained by someone that’s been doing it professionally because it can go wrong really fast if you don’t know the proper way to do everything.

Where do you think one could find this kind of training?

The simple answer is finding connections with people who perform in a circus or at events.

Do you think there’s a way to do any of it without training?

I’m going to say no because (I feel like) if I do say something, I don’t somebody to go out and get hurt. I think really the only way to do it would be if you’ve been trained by someone or at least if you know what you’re doing. You really need to know what you’re doing to be that close to fire.

See Hanners perform some of her stunts in this video: