Fire Jumpers: Description of Burns and Traumatic Injuries from a Spontaneous Mass Gathering and Celebratory Riot

Background: On April 3 and 5 of 2005, approximately 52,000 people gathered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina to celebrate the National Collegiate Athletic Association Final Four victories of the University of North Carolina men's basketball team. As crowds rejoiced and intensified into a celebratory riot, many participants lit dozens of bonfires and expressed themselves by jumping through the flames. Objective: To describe the interesting injury mechanism of celebratory fire jumping and to describe the injuries associated with two celebratory riots. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study analyzing all Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and hospital reports of injuries associated with each gathering. We used a standardized data collection instrument to record descriptive information on all patients with celebration-associated complaints and noted their treatment and disposition. For analysis, we abstracted data and generated basic descriptive statistics and comparisons of groups. Results: A total of 58 celebrants received medical care, including 27 patients first evaluated by EMS and 49 patients subsequently evaluated in the Emergency Department. Most were young (average age = 23.8 years), male (65%, 32/49), had complaints associated with alcohol (65%, 32/49), and were not admitted to the hospital (92%, 45/49). Of those presenting for hospital evaluation, 30% (15/49) had burns associated with fire-jumping. Conclusions: Most patients from these gatherings had relatively minor injuries or medical complaints. However, burns associated with fire-jumping represented a substantial proportion of more serious injuries and hospitalizations. These cases are presented to increase awareness of the burn injuries associated with this type of celebratory mass gathering.