Fire Mission

Flame-throwing technology has been applied in some odd ways. It reminds us of when the ancient prophet Elijah produced some shock-and-awe pyrotechnics that incinerated an altar drenched in water.

Humankind has been fascinated with fire since our Stone Age ancestors (we imagine) figured out how to make it without requiring the pyrotechnics of lightning. There are many examples of this. Witness the wild-eyed fascination of scouts poking at the fire on their first campout, or a 40-something dad attempting to detonate a small arsenal of fireworks on the Fourth of July.

Humans love to play around with fire. Consider the flamethrower. Someone thought, "If fire is a good thing — and it is — then there should be a way to spread it around." No wonder, then, that we (and by "we," we mean adult, male pyromaniacs) decided that the following were great ideas:

- A wheelchair flamethrower designed by 52-year-old Lance Greathouse — you know, in case you find yourself disabled and in a Mad Max movie.

- The Flame-nco guitar that shoots flames out of the neck, which puts a new meaning on campfire singing.

- How about a trombone that shoots flames? Or a bagpipe that shoots them out...