Tuesday, the Maryland Fire Marshal's office announced plans to crack down on what they say is a popular, but dangerous practice - bartenders pour potent alcohol on a bar and then ignite it, often as a way of launching a round of drinking games.
The fiery spectacle, meant as a harmless thrill, does not damage the bar top, but it poses a hazard to the bar's patrons, said Southern Region Deputy State Fire Marshal Duane Svites.
``Having talked to other people who go to bars, they say, 'Yeah, this is something that happens all the time.' Now we hope to deter this as much as we can,'' Svites said.
He said it was the Bel Alton incident that prompted the fire marshal's office to expand the investigation statewide.
``We're going to go into bars and clubs . . . and discourage the act,'' Svites said, adding, ``As far as we're concerned, it's as dangerous as you can get with an occupied bar with over a hundred people.''
Sundee Gilliam, 25, was injured June 3 at Apehangers Bar and Grill, which bills itself as a family friendly biker bar. Bartender Douglas E. Mattingly, 25, of Newburg was arrested Tuesday and charged with reckless endangerment for allegedly pouring a quantity of rum on the bar and lighting it. Employees at Apehangers insist the fire was an accident. Owner Beverly Howe declined to comment.
Svites said Gilliam was treated for five days at Washington Hospital Center's Burn Center. She was released June 8 and is recovering at home, he said.
Though fire investigators know of no similar victims and plan no other arrests, many bar patrons said the practice of lighting a bar with alcohol is common, Svites said.
Drinking games come in many forms, but Svites said he's aware of one in which a bartender lights the bar before patrons pick up shot glasses with their mouths.
``We've heard a lot of other things, too,'' Svites said. ``Like where they put 150-proof alcohol in their mouth, put a lighter underneath their chin and then spit it out like a fireball. They also spray it out of a bottle. It's as creative as you want to get.''
Svites said that the motivation for gimmicks using fire is as simple as it is dangerous: ``The bartenders are just getting creative to try to bring the people in.
A worker at Apehangers, who spoke on condition that she not be named, said Mattingly was pouring a drink when some spilled onto the bar. Then, she said, someone must have dropped a match or a lit cigarette.
