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Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington watches the equipment case with magician Steve Wyrick inside go up in flames outside Planet Hollywood.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009 | 7:41 a.m.
Sun Archives
- Fourth fireworks light up valley sky (7-4-09)
Fourth of July coverage
Magician Steve Wyrick is blaming a pyrotechnics supplier for a fire that broke out during a July 4 performance in Las Vegas, injuring a crew member and causing the failure of a high-profile trick.
Wyrick and his company Wyrick Magical Productions Inc. filed suit Friday in Clark County District Court against Pyritz Pyrotechnics Group LLC.
Wyrick's suit said he had contracted with Pyritz for Pyritz to furnish equipment and labor, including licensed pyrotechnics operators, to provide a pyrotechnics display for his "Death Drop" trick at Planet Hollywood hotel-casino on the Fourth of July.
The performance promoted a new tattoo parlor and was witnessed by hundreds of onlookers on the streets and sidewalks in front of Planet Hollywood on the Las Vegas Strip.
Wyrick was to be shackled and locked in an equipment box. The box was supposed to be hoisted into the air, supported by a few thin ropes and dangled over a bed of flaming spikes 80 feet below. The ropes were supposed to be set on fire, with Wyrick making his escape before the last rope broke.
But things didn't go according to plan. As crew members went to light the ropes, a black netting that was shielding the box from view caught on fire. Emergency personnel responded and the box was taken away.
One cast member was treated for minor injuries by on-site paramedics. A helicopter landed on the Las Vegas Strip after the fire, presumably responding to the medical emergency, but Wyrick then appeared from the helicopter.
"Pyritz breached the contract by failing to provide a pyrotechnics display that operated properly and which detonated prematurely, causing a fire that destroyed a portion of Wyrick's trick props and that placed Wyrick's staff in peril," Wyrick charged in the lawsuit.
A request for comment was left Monday with Pyritz Pyrotechnics, which is listed in state records as having a North Las Vegas address. The managing member of the company is Garden State Fireworks Inc. of Millington, N.J., state records show.
Wyrick's suit alleges breach of contract, negligence, failure to indemnify Wyrick for his damages and defamation because the incident allegedly damaged Wyrick's reputation.
Was Steve Wyrick truly frightened by what happened? I hope he will re-think what his mother undoubtedly taught him when he was a kid: "Don't play with fire".
It's no fun being a kill-joy but the Clark County Fire Department should forbid these kinds of fire stunts, because of their inherent risk of failure.
Remember the deadly 2003 fire at the Rhode Island night club? Though gross negligence was involved there, a pyrotechnic fire disaster could just as easily happen here, injuring or killing patrons as well as show participants. With Las Vegas' ugly history of the deadly MGM Grand and Hilton fires, plus the fire at the top of the Monte Carlo, Las Vegas does not need another fire disaster to convince potential tourists from around the country to go to Atlantic City instead.
The truth is this accident was a combination of poor planning and lack of rehearsals with or with out fire and last minute decisions without forethought of the real danger involved. Furthermore the safe distance for the observers was not maintained with the crowd standing as close as 20 - 30 ft away and had the crate fallen to the ground from 80 feet surely people would have been sprayed by the flying peices from the box and rigging, basically this was horribly rushed and incrediably underestimated even when the head pyro person made comments about it not being safe, its a shame to now see the blame is on everyone but the one person in control of this entire event.
Planet Hollywood seems cursed. Bring back Aladdin!
Once again, Steve Wyrick is trying to blame everyone else. If Steve's ego would step out of the picture and had he listened to the experts, none of the accidents that have happened throughout his tedious career would have occured.
Lets look back on previous events in Steve's career:
-A previous casino: Steve dragged his asstant by the hair around the stage when on a rampage.....not part of the show.
-Telling crew that he is more important then their children, and that they had to "decide between him and the family" (who do you think wins?)
-When adviced not to do somthing because of safety cautions to others he overrides it through his ego.
Perhaps if he chose to no longer get high on cocaine before a performance he would be coherent enough to make a rational decision regarding the safety of his employees. He is one of the highest ranked egotistical con men in the world.....a true idiot! This is mere fuel for the already raging bonfire that is Steve's career. Hopefully the flames will be put out soon.