Firefighters: Flaming sword dance leads to garage fire in Aurora
By Matt Hanley mhanley@stmedianetwork.com September 21, 2012 1:30PM
Maps
Updated: October 24, 2012 6:36AM
AURORA — Two cars and a garage were destroyed by a Friday morning fire that may have been started by flaming swords.
According to Aurora Fire Department Deputy Chief John Lehman, firefighters were called to a home in the 1900 block of Seaview Drive at 2:30 a.m. for a fire in the attached garage of a two-story home. When firefighters arrived, the garage was fully engulfed in flames.
Lehman said the fire is believed to have been started by Samoan flaming swords that somehow reignited.
According to Lehman, two of the residents were practicing a flaming sword dance ritual in the back yard. When they were done, the swords were extinguished, wrapped in a towel and put in the garage.
Lehman said firefighters traced the origin of the fire to the exact spot where the swords were stored, meaning they were the likely source of the fire.
Six people were home when the fire broke out, but no one was injured.
Fire officials estimated the damages to be about $150,000 to the house and its contents. The cars and garage were destroyed and the home is uninhabitable, Lehman said.
According to samoanews.com, Paramount Chief Letuli Olo Misilagi is credited with inventing the Samoan “Fireknife Dance.” He started the Flaming Sword Association to “perpetuate the Samoan fireknife dance for future generations and to promote Samoan culture.”
