The show ends when Mr. Moschen rotates two torches in a circle of fire, the flames as vivid as a Chinese ribbon dance, and then extinguishes them by shutting them into a black box.
Pockets of tall trees occasionally go up in a flash of fire, torching like matchsticks, sending dark black and grey chimneys of smoke floating above the ridge.
Behind a transparent scrim, the dancers rotate torches that turn into balls of fire.
Known as one of the biggest street festivals in the world, the Hogmanay Festival comes complete with a live music festival, huge crowds, tons of cheer, torch-holding fire marches and of course, loads of unbelievable fireworks.
The effect of the play was as of a punch to the gut and the smell of fire from the torches lingered long after the end.
The pipe was removed even though the men knew that the building was in constant danger of fire, Mr. Fields said: torches were being used to cut steel, creating slag — dripping molten metal that burned whatever it touched — in a building filled with debris, plywood and other flammable material.
Last month, a plumber's torch sent fire racing through six floors of an old apartment building in southwest Yonkers, forcing several families from their homes.
It is another matter whether the American effort can succeed: Whether President Bush will be able to make Iraq a torch of democracy capable of lighting a fire among the autocracies and dictatorships of the Arab world, or will end up resembling Woodrow Wilson with his belief that the League of Nations would make the world safe for Jeffersonian values after World War I.
Our measures of fire severity included tree mortality; height of bole char, crown scorch, and crown torch; and percent crown scorch and torch.
In 2011, a procession of torch carriers including the Up Helly Aa' Vikings from Shetland is also planned, making a river of fire flowing up Calton Hill.
