21 treated for burns after fire walking attempts

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- At least 21 people were treated for burns after walking over hot coals at a Tony Robbins event Thursday night in San Jose, fire officials said.

The motivational speaker's downtown "Unleash the Power Within" event began in the Convention Center around 1 p.m. and lasted until about 11 p.m., when some 6,000 attendees walked to Park Avenue for what Robbins' website calls the "Firewalk Experience," according to San Jose fire Capt. Reggie Williams.

Hot coals were put into 12 separate 10-foot-long, 2.5-foot-wide lanes on the grass. Around 11:30 p.m., the event's attendees proceeded to walk over them, a process that took about 1.5 hours, Williams said.

Afterward, 21 people were treated by on-site medical teams for their burns. Three called 911 and were taken by emergency medical teams to the hospital. Those people had second- and third-degree burns, Williams said.

The event organizers had a city burn permit authorizing the coals and a fire prevention inspector was there to make sure no fire occurred, he said.

The cost of attending an "Unleash the Power Within" weekend-long event is between $595 and $2,595, based on information about a similar event in Florida on Robbins' website.

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