Twenty-one people who attended the Anthony Robbins motivational event were treated for second and third-degree burns after walking across hot coals the first night.
The inspirational speaker’s four day event, known as Unleash The Power Within, scheduled for July 19 -22 at the San Jose Convention Center, attracted over 6,000 attendees.
The day’s event ended at 11 p.m. when the crowd was led to Park Avenue, where organizers prepared 12 lanes of hot coals measuring 10 feet long by 2½-feet wide on the grass. According to the organizers the hot coals were between 1,200 and 2,000 degrees.
Participant Sahar Madani told Channel 2 KTVU everyone was warned of the possibility of burns and blisters.
“Get your focus and attention away from that and look into the power within yourself and just focus on walking through the fire," Madani said.
Bystander Jonathan Correll told the Mercury News, "I heard wails of pain, screams of agony.... It was horrific. First one person, then a couple minutes later another one, and there was just a line of people walking on that fire. It was just bizarre."
San Jose Fire Department Captain Reggie Williams said event organizers had emergency personnel on standby and did obtain an open fire permit.
Tony Robbins' organization released a statement saying: “We have been safely providing this experience for more than three decades. We continue to work with local fire and emergency personnel to ensure this event are always done in the safest way possible."
The organization said this won't stop them from holding fire walking events in the future.
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