It’s an old idiom: to play with fire. But in the Côte d’Or region of France, Jonathan Vero has redefined the phrase—blurring the lines between myth, daredevil spectacle, and perhaps, occupational irony. Chronicled in a UPI oddities roundup, Vero, a professional firefighter with a penchant for high-risk stunts, recently established a new Guinness World Record by riding his Yamaha DragStar 1100 a remarkable 1,450 feet while fully on fire.

An Unlikely Résumé of Record Burns

Described in UPI’s reporting, Vero is no newcomer to incendiary world records. He previously achieved the fastest 100-meter sprint in full body burn without supplementary oxygen (17 seconds) and the longest run under the same conditions (an eyebrow-singeing 893 feet and 2.5 inches). In an account relayed to Guinness and captured by the outlet, Vero shared that his earlier runs left him “burned in several places” and physically unwell for over a week, but also filled him with childhood pride at seeing his name in a book he’d long admired.

Reflecting on this accomplishment, he told Guinness, as documented by UPI, “During the other two records, I was burned in several places on my body and felt unwell. It took me over a week to recover physically from these performances, but I was proud to enter into the record book that I read as a child.” There’s a curious symmetry here—a firefighter repeatedly pursuing fire not to fight it, but to become it, at least for a thrilling moment in the record books.

Not Just a Hot Streak: Preparation and Pyrotechnics

Pulling off a flaming motorcycle world record also required an engineer’s fastidiousness. UPI outlines how Vero spent time fireproofing his motorcycle and rehearsing his fiery rides under a variety of weather conditions. “To achieve this performance, I had to modify the bike to make it fireproof, then I practiced riding on fire over several distances and in different types of weather,” Vero conveyed to Guinness. The day of the big attempt brought perfect weather and an ideal track—two below-the-radar essentials for safely transforming oneself into a rolling inferno.

One can only imagine what Vero’s neighbors thought as he conducted trial runs: perhaps the sight of a flaming DragStar became just another Tuesday in Côte d’Or. The outlet also notes that despite all the drama, success hinged on decidedly practical factors: careful preparation, risk management, and a dose of luck from the local climate.

Flaming Motorcycles and the Pantheon of Peculiarity

The Guinness annals are overflowing with achievements ranging from the poetic to the preposterous. In the same UPI summary, one finds a Spanish woman’s egg cup collection totaling over 15,485, a $42,232 wheel of cheese, a deer sporting a bird feeder hat in Ohio, a bottle drifting across the Atlantic for 13 years, and a snake causing a plane delay in Australia. In such company, a firefighter turning himself into the Human Torch for sport starts to feel, if not normal, then at least right at home among humanity’s broader spectrum of oddball ambition.

Amidst a world obsessed with “firsts” and “mosts,” Vero’s exploits feel like a throwback to an older kind of daredevilry—one that balances risk, precision, and a distinctly personal logic only fully understood by the person at its center.

Reflection: Firefighters, Folly, and the Limits of Daring

It’s easy to question the logic of lighting oneself on fire for fun (and a certificate), but perhaps that’s part of the charm. What motivates someone to train for, rehearse, and ultimately ride a fireproofed motorcycle for nearly a third of a mile in a column of flame? The answer, tucked into Vero’s own admission of childhood dreams and weeks-long recoveries, suggests a blend of nostalgia, stubbornness, and the peculiar kind of pride that comes from seeing your name on the same pages that once inspired you.

Maybe, just maybe, these records are a reminder that the edges of human endeavor are less about sense than about possibility—and sometimes, about having the right equipment, the precise weather, and enough fireproofing spray to keep the dream (and your eyebrows) alive.

Is there a record for sheer determination in the face of obvious peril? If not, Vero just unofficially broke it—flame suit and all.