Does anybody need to tell you that setting a dude on fire before he pulls into a wave at Chopes is probably easier said than done? Some interesting facts came out of the anticipated Who is JOB episode where we finally got what we’ve been promised – more of Jamie set ablaze inside a barrel. We didn’t know that this stunt took a year to prep for and eventually pull off. We also didn’t know there were a thousand factors vying to shut the whole project down through the very last minute. Everything from a power outage on the island the night before the big stunt to the wake of the ski putting out the flame itself were last second road bumps. Body Glove created and designed an entirely new wetsuit for the whole thing (insert “keeps you warm as hell” marketing campaigns puns here). O’Brien’s crew performed multiple land based tests before even attempting the final shebang. At every stop apparently the whole thing almost went down in a blaze of glory.
“It’s one thing being lit on fire in a controlled environment, but it’s quite another being lit on fire in the ocean, where you have to deal with things like wind, finding the perfect wave, and knowing how the fuel will react to the humidity,” O’Brien says. “Plus, I’m not sure what I was more scared of: the fire or the reef combined with such a large swell. Both could cause me permanent damage.”
