B.C. city councillor to fulfill campaign promise of setting himself on fire

You may not know Squamish, B.C., councillor Peter Kent, but you would likely recognize him. And he’s sure to get your attention when he sets himself on fire next month.

In February, Kent – an Arnold Schwarzenegger doppelganger who acted as the star’s personal stuntman for over a decade – will fulfill a campaign promise and set himself ablaze at a public event.

The trainer and professional stuntman – voted to Squamish town council in November – spent 15 years stunting for Schwarzenegger, beginning with the original Terminator film in 1984.

He is also a credited actor, and the founder of Vancouver’s School of Hard Knocks stuntman academy. Kent settled in Squamish with his wife because of the region’s natural beauty.

Kent unsuccessfully ran in 2011 but won a council seat in 2014 after releasing a video promising the pyrotechnic stunt if voter turnout improved over the previous election.

On Friday, Feb. 13, Kent will don an array of fire retardant clothing and gels and, in front of a crowd and media gathered at the town’s Loggers Sports Grounds, will light himself on fire.

Kent spoke with Yahoo Canada News about his new political career and the upcoming stunt. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Yahoo Canada News: So why did you decide to enter politics?

Peter Kent: I think if you had asked me 10 years if I had any interest in politics I would have said no.

And in 2011 I don’t know if I was really ready for it. But this time around we had an issue with an LNG [liquified natural gas] plant the provincial government is trying to put into our beautiful downtown, as well as LNG tankers running in and out of the harbour… we had some reasons to put up a bit of a fight.

Yahoo: So how have the first few months of your political career gone? Any surprises?

Kent: Not so much surprises. Well, some surprises in never having been in the political arena before. The process by which some things are done. I’m an A-type personality. If I see something I sink my teeth into it and go for it. It can be a bit frustrating in the political arena when things aren’t that cut-and-dried.

Yahoo: Let’s talk about the stunt. During the election you promised to set yourself on fire if voter turnout improved.

Kent: What I said is that if voter turnout came up from 2011, which was about 39 per cent, that I would do the burn. I didn’t attach it to anything about myself (getting elected), I said it as a general statement. And it did. Whether or not I had anything to do with that is a moot point – I might like to think so but in truth who knows.

Yahoo: And now you’re going to fulfill your promise.

Kent: I wouldn’t have said it if I hadn’t intended to keep it. Mind you, I didn’t realize the bureaucracy that goes along with doing something that we do at my stunt school on a regular basis. Once you start doing it on district property and you have the fire department involved and whatever red tape, it takes a bit longer than touching a match to it.

Yahoo: When was the last time you set yourself on fire?

Kent: It has been a while. I have set plenty of others on fire, but the last time I burned was in 1985 in Terminator, the first Terminator. It was the scene where he jumps on the hood with his arm on fire.

(Note: Kent later recalled he had set his arm on fire for an Ove-Glove commercial a few years ago.)

Yahoo: How are you actually going to do it? There are so many safety precautions taken.

Kent: We are professionals, this is what we do. You have to remember it is a movie stunt, and you want to be able to get up and walk home at the end of the day. Following protocols is the only way to do that.

It’s a huge open area, about the size of a football field. We’ll have an announcer and the local radio station will be there. The news media will be down at the other end. I’ll go to the far end of the field and they’ll light me up. You take a deep breath before they touch the flame to you, and close your eyes and start walking. You go only as long as you can hold your breath, because if you inhale the fire down it will kill you. And if you open your eyes they will get burnt.

And the other trick is, for those that have done this before, you try to find which way the wind is blowing and try to walk into the wind. That way the flame doesn’t wick straight up around you like a candle. It billows out behind, which does two things. It keeps you cooler, and it looks cooler.

Yahoo: It should be quite a spectacle.

Kent: It is good for Squamish. We’ve had so much good press lately, and it’s just another one of those things that says, “You know what? We are a cool town, we’re a cool place.” In the history of politics, how many politicians have willingly set themselves on fire?

(A warning, only trained professionals should attempt such a stunt, and only while employing strict safety precautions.)