A firefighter broke a world record for farthest run — while on fire

As a firefighter and stunt performer, Vero said, he loves the exhilaration of being set ablaze and feels a rush every time he suits up in flame-retardant gear.

Vero’s flame-filled race in September recently earned a Guinness World Record for the fastest 100-meter sprint and the farthest run while on fire. The records were the completion of a goal Vero, a 39-year-old resident of Lille, France, had set to prove he was one of the world’s top fire stuntmen.

“I’m not scared about fire,” Vero said. “I love fire. It’s a passion for me.”

That passion began when he was still a child. As young as 6, Vero said, he was stealing matches and lighters from his grandparents and igniting his toy cars and planes in their garden. He would study the way the fire danced and changed colors as his toys melted into blobs.

Vero’s grandparents told him to stop, but he kept experimenting. At age 10, Vero said, he set a can of deodorant on fire and was thrilled by how high the flames grew.

At 18, he became a firefighter in northern France. That’s when he said he witnessed firsthand how fire could devastate a family.

“I saw the dark side of the fire, with destruction, with burned bodies,” Vero said. “It was really difficult for me to accept this.”

He focused on that job for nearly two decades before he explored a second career.

In 2019, Vero’s grandmother Agnes died at 89. As he grieved, Vero said, he found a new outlet, one that reminded him of playing with flames as a child: fire stunts. He visited Austria to meet a stuntman from the Matrix series and was introduced to a gel that, while flammable, can protect people’s skin during stunts.

Vero said he was scared to be set on fire for the first time, but after about two seconds of being engulfed in flames, his fear turned to excitement.

In 2020, Vero started a fire stunt company, Ignition. He learned to juggle fire torches and to eat and breathe fire — or, at least, how to appear to. He started performing at parties.

But he wanted to showcase more of his skills. As he scrolled through the list of Guinness World Records last year, he said, he saw there were two flame-running records. He immediately wanted to beat them.

The records were held by a man from the United Kingdom, Antony Britton, who had sprinted 100 meters in 24.58 seconds and run 204.23 meters while on fire in October 2017. The distance running record had changed six times since 2009.

In May 2022, Vero began training by focusing on his breathing while running on fire. He chose a track in his hometown — Haubourdin, France — as the venue to shatter the record.

On Sept. 10, Vero arrived at the track and sketched out his path on a whiteboard in front of his colleagues. He jogged around the track in black sweats to warm up.

Then, Vero suited up in the bathroom. His first layer included flame-resistant black sweatpants and a long-sleeve shirt. He covered them in the special gel and added a second layer — a blue-and-white jumpsuit also smeared in gel. Vero put on a black mask to cover his face.

His final layer: his black fire suit, black gloves and boots. On a chain around his neck, Vero said, he attached his late grandmother’s diamond ring, which he touched for good luck before the run.

In the far-left lane, Vero leaned forward before someone set his legs on fire with a pair of torches. With his 6-year-old daughter, 3-year-old son and other family members and friends watching from the bleachers, Vero ran more than halfway across the track before colleagues sprayed him with the extinguishers.

Vero said his back and hamstrings were burned after the race, but he lathered his skin with cream, and it healed after a few days.

“When you want to break this kind of record,” Vero said, “you have to accept the dangers.”

Vero said he’s become more cautious about performing stunts since his children were born. But he’s proud to show his kids the Guinness World Record certificates he received last week, and he doesn’t plan to stop.

“There [are] a lot of records that I think I can break,” Vero said.