In the Grim Darkness of the Far Future, There is Only Skulls War... the movie!
posted by fearfulsymmetry on Sep 30, 2009 - 112 comments

From out of the shadow a red sword leapt flaming...Fire swords and how to make them (from scratch if you like). For performance or flaming sword fights. [more inside]
posted by Smedleyman on Sep 8, 2009 - 18 comments

Time-lapse video of the Southern California wildfires. Another image of the fires, as seen from space. Google Map.
posted by mattdidthat on Sep 3, 2009 - 20 comments

Everitt is a pyro.
posted by boo_radley on Aug 27, 2009 - 28 comments

Headbanging while making fire. SLYT
posted by mr.marx on May 10, 2009 - 57 comments

Stuck in the dark without a flashlight and want to impress your friends? Make your own torch! [more inside]
posted by quin on May 4, 2009 - 34 comments

Theodore Gray, author of the new book Theo Gray's Mad Science, has a personal collection of thousands of samples of elements [previously on MetaFilter]. In his Popular Science column, he has smelted his own titanium and dissolved aluminum. Now, he cuts through steel with bacon.
posted by Eater on Apr 15, 2009 - 31 comments

The fire tower, or fire lookout, was one of the main wildfire-fighting tools of forest services across the world for much of the 20th century. Most are small cabins, alone or placed on 80-foot steel towers; these are then placed on top of peaks, giving them an unobstructed view of the surrounding countryside. (There are some exceptions, of course.) Operators in the towers, equipped with binoculars and firefinders, spent their days searching for smoke or lightning strikes, which would be pinpointed and radioed in for firefighters. (The lookout operators, who staff the towers for a season at a time straight, have a life that is generally pretty solitary and quiet, though sometimes rather intense.) At peak, there were thousands of fire towers across North America; while most of these no longer exist, a few hundred are still active. [more inside]
posted by Upton O'Good on Mar 2, 2009 - 35 comments

At about 9:00PM last night, the nearly completed 40 story Mandarin Oriental Beijing caught fire. By midnight the entire building was engulfed in flames. The hotel was situated next to the CCTV Building, a new Beijing landmark known to locals as "The Big Underpants". Early reports suggest that illegal fireworks launched for the Lantern Festival, the last night of the Chinese New Year holiday, were the cause.
posted by hawkeye on Feb 10, 2009 - 32 comments

Many places in Victoria are on fire. Victoria's Bushfires can help you keep track of the current situation around Melbourne. [more inside]
posted by mosessis on Feb 7, 2009 - 209 comments

Pyrophones are organs where the notes are sounded via explosions or other forms of combustion. Often beautiful just to look at, they also make otherwordly noises (open up all these links at once for a real wake-up). Unlike other fire-based instruments, they can even play recognizeable melodies. Here's how to make one. They've become quite popular at events (7 MB video, more videos) like Burning Man, but they've been around since the 17-1800's. If you're new to experimental instruments, a read/listen through Gravikords, Whirlies and Pyrophones should be your next stop. Related: chemical harmonica, burning harmonica, singing tubes. [via & prev.]
posted by jessamyn on Jan 4, 2009 - 29 comments

42 Works of Modern Earth and Land Art. 42 Works of Water, Snow and Ice Art. 30 Works of Air, Sky and Wind Art. 42 Works of Fire Art and Design.
posted by homunculus on Dec 28, 2008 - 5 comments

As those of you on the wrong email lists can probably guess, Snopes is overflowing with gang initiation rumors. What you may not know is that the New Jersey police recently arrested someone spreading those stories for "causing false public alarm." [more inside]
posted by tkolar on Dec 7, 2008 - 23 comments

JS (Aged 5) She can't wake up.
Operator No? Is she breathing? Can you see her chest go up and down?
JS I can see her shoulders going ... I can see her doing [Makes breathing noises]
Operator She's breathing, is she? But you think she's having a fit.
JS Yeah, I think she is and ... I don't know what to do.

6 transcripts of 999 operators helping people cope with emergencies: a mother giving birth alone, a 5 year old whose mother is fitting, a mother and son trapped in a house fire, a brother and sister resuscitating their father, a husband saving his choking wife, and a neighbour saving his friend with an amputated arm
posted by roofus on Nov 29, 2008 - 43 comments

The fire you kindle for your enemy often burns yourself more than them. For want of water, a house burns down. The hydrants were off. Why? Well to prevent terrorism, obviously.
posted by bitmage on Sep 12, 2008 - 76 comments

Why the West is ablaze. [more inside]
posted by clearly on Jul 10, 2008 - 28 comments

Sitting With Fire is a blog running from Tassajara, one of the oldest Zen monasteries in the US. It provides information on the status of Tassajara's residents who have stayed behind to combat the Basin Complex fire. [more inside]
posted by whir on Jul 7, 2008 - 20 comments

Plans for a Simple Atmospheric Gas Forge that can be constructed using mundane tools. Zoeller forge is also a parts source for speciality items you may not be able to source locally.
posted by Mitheral on May 23, 2008 - 17 comments

Happy birthday, firehouse pole.
posted by allkindsoftime on Apr 21, 2008 - 24 comments

The Burning Crater of Darvaza. [Via.]
posted by homunculus on Mar 26, 2008 - 31 comments

Weird scenes inside the gold mica mines Russians photograph and play in an abandoned mine.
posted by Kirth Gerson on Mar 21, 2008 - 8 comments

"To suppose that the spirit of our people will not rise to the occasion is to suppose that our people are not genuine Americans. We shall make the fire of 1904 a landmark not of decline but of progress."
posted by dhammond on Mar 21, 2008 - 10 comments

It's never a happy occasion when a 130 year old brick building goes up in flames. But when the fire crews have to spray down the building (and the surrounding city block) in sub-zero temperatures, the end result looks stunning. [more inside]
posted by baphomet on Feb 21, 2008 - 52 comments

Larry Schwarm is best known for his photographs of prairie fires and landscapes in the Flint Hills of Kansas. On May 5, 2007, he visited his hometown of Greensburg, Kansas to take photos of what was left after an F-5 tornado leveled the town the day before. [more inside]
posted by sleepy pete on Jan 18, 2008 - 12 comments

I watched man burn to death, heard others screaming in the fog. A massive, 50-car pileup, the result of three or more crashes on I-4, has led to at least 3 fatalities and 82 injuries in central Florida near Orlando. The smoke and fog were so bad that rescue efforts were hindered. Drivers with no visibility did not know whether to stay in their burning cars or risk running out onto the highway for help.
posted by misha on Jan 9, 2008 - 59 comments

Scoutmaster is a blog from a long-time troop leader in which he talks both about practical scouting tools, such as how to make a fire and how to lash a tower together, and about current issues with discrimination in the BSA.
posted by Upton O'Good on Dec 19, 2007 - 50 comments

The Flaming Lotus Girls are a San Francisco-based fire art collective. Their recent works have included The Serpent Mother (pics | video); the Angel of the Apocalypse (pics ); and the Hand of God (pics | video). Another bay area fire arts group is Interpretive Arson, creators of Dance Dance Immolation (previously featured), and the interactive 2pir (video).
posted by pombe on Nov 16, 2007 - 14 comments

The great Seattle Fire. "The spring of 1889 in Seattle had been beautiful....Unfortunately, the unusually good weather proved to be disastrous, as the dry conditions conspired with a handful of other elements to allow for the worst fire in city history...the fire burned until 3:00 am. When it was done, the damage was enormous. 120 acres (25 city blocks) had been destroyed, as was every wharf and Mill from Union to Jackson Streets. Although the loss of human life was evidently low (no statistics were kept on that) it was estimated that 1 million rats were killed...." Photo gallery. A roughly contemporaneous account. A Historylink essay on the fire. How the fire changed Seattle's architecture.
posted by dersins on Nov 7, 2007 - 8 comments

Pictures of California Wildfires. Some fire resources: Fire maps, Official Information and an up to the moment news blog. In related news, Twitter proves to be useful, while anger rages as evidence of arson mounts. More Photos here and here.
posted by psmealey on Oct 28, 2007 - 19 comments

In Chapter 3 of his 1999 Pulitzer Prize winning book The Control of Nature, John Mcphee describes the catastrophe from debris flows following wild fires in the Los Angeles area in 1978. [more inside]
posted by strangeleftydoublethink on Oct 23, 2007 - 8 comments

How to build and start a fire. How to build and start a fire with stone age tools. How to start a fire in an emergency. How to start a fire without matches. How to start a fire with sticks. How to start a fire with air - and possibly inspire the birth of the diesel engine. How to start a fire with ice. How to start a fire with chocolate and a coke can.
posted by loquacious on Jun 11, 2007 - 21 comments

The Chicago Fire and the Web of Memory compiles a fascinating array of primary sources about the 1871 fire that destroyed 4 square miles of the city of Chicago, killing hundreds and leaving nearly one out of five residents homeless. Explore 3D images, music [embedded], children's drawings, and personal recollections. See also a pictorial survey of the damage, including fused marbles and metal hardware, related documents and images at the Library of Congress, and an exoneration of Mrs. O'Leary and her bovine companion, along with a suggestion by John Lienhart that police corruption and class struggle were more to blame than a cow [embedded audio].
posted by Miko on May 16, 2007 - 9 comments

The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is burning (again). Over the past few days, more than 22,000 acres have burned, and a mandatory evacuation has been ordered for the north end of the Gunflint Trail. Fire containment remains at only 5%, and the fire's growth potential remains high due to strong winds, lack of rainfall, and the dense concentration of blown-down trees caused by a major windstorm in 1999. Officials are now attempting to fight fire with fire. Fire danger is high to extreme across northern Minnesota and fire restrictions are in effect indefinitely. The BWCAW previously.
posted by mauglir on May 10, 2007 - 19 comments

The Beltane Fire Society Fire Festival. Happy Beltane! [Some links NSFW.]
posted by homunculus on Apr 30, 2007 - 23 comments

Melted Freeway
posted by serazin on Apr 29, 2007 - 87 comments

Live, From Outer Space: rural fires [1, 2], The Haze in China [1 ,2, 3] and its movement, aerosols, and the brothers carbon monoxide [a photochemical smog agent] and carbon dioxide.
posted by trinarian on Apr 14, 2007 - 10 comments

Let me stand next to your fire. Forty years ago today, Jimi Hendrix set fire to his guitar live on stage for the first time when he was appearing at The Astoria London. It was the first night of a 24-date tour with The Walker Brothers, Cat Stevens and Engelbert Humperdinck.
posted by psmealey on Mar 31, 2007 - 33 comments

Burn Hollywood Burn. Some striking photos (from the BBC) of the conflagration that came a little too close for comfort to the iconic hillside sign. Some more details here.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Mar 31, 2007 - 19 comments

The Fireladders of Soho. (New York, that is.) [via]
posted by Armitage Shanks on Mar 20, 2007 - 26 comments

Requiem for La Contessa: After she was set afire in December, three questions arose: who burned her, why, and what became of her figurehead? The first two have been answered, but the third remains a mystery despite the sculpture's brief appearance in a photo on tribe.net.
posted by fandango_matt on Feb 3, 2007 - 8 comments

Tickle Me Elmo On Fire (google video, disturbing)
posted by empath on Jan 2, 2007 - 95 comments

Welcome (well, almost, the roman calendar is a touch early) to the Year of the Fire Pig. See what it means for you as we finish the Fire Dog Year.
posted by gren on Jan 1, 2007 - 44 comments

The La Contessa, the Spanish galleon that roamed Lake Lahontan, is gone.
posted by fandango_matt on Dec 11, 2006 - 19 comments

City in Flames Twenty Five years ago the City of Lynn Massachusetts experienced its second great fire. Devastating several downtown industrial buildings dating to the rise of the Shoe industry. All of which were undergoing redevelopment. While nowhere near as big as the Great Boston Fire of 1872, or the various Chelsea fires, the tragedy of the story is the empty wasteland that still sits after all these years. Today the Boston Globe dug up several articles from their pre Web vaults. The Lynn Museum has an exhibit, and the Lynn Library will have a slideshow.
posted by Gungho on Nov 28, 2006 - 9 comments

Maybe it's not really news because no one was killed, but you'd think that more people would notice when a massive explosion in suburban Boston totals 60 buildings, knocks out windows for a half mile around, knocks people out of bed in the middle of the night, and registers on the Richter scale 30 miles away.
posted by alms on Nov 22, 2006 - 46 comments

A man set himself on fire in Chicago last Friday morning in protest at the war in Iraq. He left a suicide note. But you know that don't you because its been all over the media?
posted by bobbyelliott on Nov 8, 2006 - 152 comments

The Incinolet (possible product name: The Crap Zapper!) is a waterless toilet which, according to its fans, is cleaner, less expensive, and more eco-friendly than its counterparts because it uses fire instead of water.
posted by fandango_matt on Sep 15, 2006 - 47 comments

Troitsky Church in St.Petersburg is on fire. Terrible pictures
posted by growabrain on Aug 25, 2006 - 34 comments

Due to recent fires, Dell is recalling over four million laptop batteries manufactured by Sony and sold worldwide in the past two years. Pictures of computers on fire (as well as their charred remains) circulated widely online, not allowing the company to easily dismiss the problem as an isolated incident. Other companies claim their products aren't affected by the same issues, but the nightmare might not be limited to Dell. The future of laptops on airplanes is not looking so good.
posted by kyleg on Aug 15, 2006 - 50 comments

Free piano, slight fire damage.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Aug 13, 2006 - 53 comments