8 hours Ago By Dana Gee
Vancouver’s Fire4Hire stunt company, which has been setting TV/film productions on fire for over two decades, just picked up an Academy Award for Scientific and Technical Achievement. “It’s the craziest and coolest thing ever,” said Colin Decker, who started Fire4Hire 20 years ago with partner Dustin Brooks. “Stunt people don’t typically get an Academy Award , so to be a stuntman getting an Academy Award , two years before they actually have the category, is pretty special,” added Decker, referring to the recent news that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be debuting an Achievement in Stunt Design award at the 100th Academy Awards in 2028.
The Scientific and Technical Achievement awards recognize original developments resulting in significant improvements in film production. The awards are usually given out in mid-February, just a couple of weeks before the televised Academy Awards, but the L.A.
fires forced postponement of the event. Fire4Hire was recognized for its game-changing fire gel, which allows for safe ‘naked’ burns. “That’s the best part, because we were awarded for our product.
But technically, what our product is the service we provide. We’ve never actually sold the gel independently of our service,” said Decker, who has been in the stunt business for 22 years and is currently the stunt coordinator on the Global/Fox Gibsons-shot TV series Murder in a Small Town. Fire4Hire, which has 52 films and 76 TV series under its belt, has used its fire gel technology on bold-type projects including The Last of Us and Deadpool 2.
It won the Specialty Stunt Award at the 2019 Taurus World Stunt Awards for a Deadpool 2 scene where actor Anthony Moyer is running around on fire in the background for a full 30 seconds while Deadpool fights a room full of bad guys. Fire4Hire’s handiwork can be seen in the soon-to-be-released film Final Destination: Bloodlines, the sixth one in the franchise. This job was special, as the fire gel was first used on Final Destination 3.
(Fans will likely remember the gruesome tanning bed deaths.) There are other fire gels on the market, but they are used over clothing. Fire4Hire’s water soluble, non-toxic gel, which Decker and Brooks developed through trial and error in Brooks’ backyard two decades ago, is designed to be used directly on skin.
“Imagine putting your hand in a pot of water, putting it on the stove, and turning it on. At first you feel nothing. Then it slowly heats up until you feel discomfort.
Then you put it out and you’re fine,” said Decker, describing how the product works. “If you push it, you could get into trouble. But if you’re smart, you’re fine.
” Decker also explained Fire4Hire’s gel doesn’t have to be refrigerated, which makes it way more comfortable for the people it’s applied to. “It definitely puts you in a state of hypothermia, which also reduces the mental state of the person being set on fire,” said Decker of other cold-gel formulas. “You have to rush and hurry because of that situation.
So, all in all, it’s just a far superior product than what was out there in the past.” While the number of naked skin burns is small, Decker said last year was a red hot one for the company. “Last year was probably the greatest year of fire I’ve ever had.
On average, I would say you might do six burns a year. And last year was close to 100,” said Decker, who himself has over 200 stunt credits to his name. “Final Destination 6 was one of the biggest.
The Last of Us season 2, hands down the biggest. I had my biggest sequence ever, where we set 10 different people on fire all at the same time. There was a crowd of zombies that are infected, bombs going off and fire everywhere, snow machines — it was absolute chaos.
It went so smoothly and so perfectly, and no one got hurt.” An obvious question here is what kind of blood pressure numbers does a person who is lighting 10 people on fire have? “Honestly, I’m very chill when it comes to doing these things. You tend to see me, and I have this great, big s—-eating grin on my face.
Because I’m just in love with what I do.” [email protected] RelatedThe Last of Us turns Vancouver's Chinatown into post-apocalyptic SeattleB.
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