Ohio Burn Unit Sets World Record

Concord University’s 2016 Homecoming week has been a huge success. With many locals eagerly lining the sidewalks surrounding Concord’s Athens campus, a colorful parade marched down the street. The theme for this year’s homecoming was “Through the Decades” with organizations representing the 1920s through the 1990s.

     Traditionally, Greek and other campus organizations compete for the titles of Homecoming King and Queen. The Homecoming Royalty was crowned and the winners of other Homecoming competitions were announced at halftime of the football game.

     As always, the celebration is packed with events for alumni, students, faculty, staff, friends of the University, and neighbors in the community. More than 40 groups and organizations participated this year in the Parade Thursday night, followed by the annual Bonfire. But the main event of the evening was a performance by the Ohio Burn Unit.

     The act began with what can be described as a fire gun which shot out flames. The crowd, which was largely made up of Concord’s student body, cheered in excitement. The Burn Unit went on to dance with and breathe fire. However, their piece de resistance was a man by the name of Skylar.

     Skylar attempted to set the world record for number of jumping jacks while maintaining a full body burn.  And Skylar completed his goal by setting the Guinness World Record at 38 jumping jacks while doing  a full body burn in 30 seconds. 

    The Ohio Burn Unit is also a World record holder for the most simultaneous full body burns in both 2009 and 2013. But that was not the end of their performance. While Skylar was still ablaze, he ran to the unlit bonfire kindling and lit it with cheers from everyone. 

    According to their website, “[The] Ohio Burn Unit are world record holders and work on some of the top Hollywood movies, Television, commercials,  music videos, live entertainment, doing stunts and special effects all over the world that makes them the top choice for your event and entertainment needs.” 

    They go on to describe themselves: “Ohio Burn Unit is a full service entertainment company. If you dream of a perfect event, we can make your dream come true. So go with the top performers, Hollywood stuntmen and women in the industry.”

    Danielle Hart, a Concord student was there for every part of the evening. She stated that, “The parade was so awesome. I loved the decades theme. One float had the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo and one had Brittany Spears, Cher and Dion from Clueless, and the freakin Titanic which was sinking.” Hart continues, “I really liked the fact that the Concord University Beckley Campus was also represented. The Ohio Burn Unit put on a really great show. And the bonfire was awesome. It’s great to see our school recognizing the talent in their own students and having them perform in the homecoming festivities.”

    Student Government Association Representative, Miranda Woody said “... the big Valley bonfire was tons of fun, and we got to hang out with the students on campus and celebrate homecoming as one all-inclusive student body.” Homecoming encompasses more than just a parade and a football game. At 7:15 p.m. a concert was held by Krista Hughes and The Replacements also during the annual bonfire.