Tar Barrels Festival Injuries — Incident Report
Street Event · Fire Festival

Tar Barrels FestivalOttery St Mary 2007

A traditional flaming tar barrels event in Ottery St Mary where the accessible incident summary states that 36 people were treated for minor burns and injuries.

Date5 November 2007
LocationOttery St Mary, Devon
Incident TypeBurns / Crowd Injuries
Reported Injuries36 Treated
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Incident Overview

What happened?

The incident is linked to the Ottery St Mary Carnival Tar Barrels, also known as the Flaming Tar Barrels, held in East Devon on 5 November 2007.

The accessible Working With Crowds incident page states that 36 people were treated for minor burns and injuries during the traditional event, where flaming barrels are carried through the town.

The original BBC report listed by the summary could not be opened directly during review, so the casualty figure is best presented as source-supported through the accessible summary rather than independently verified from the original BBC page.

Location & Identity

Event setting

Event: Ottery St Mary Carnival Tar Barrels / Flaming Tar Barrels.

Setting: Through the streets and town centre of Ottery St Mary, East Devon, within narrow historic streets.

Incident name: Tar Barrels Festival Injuries. Sources more commonly describe it as Ottery St Mary Flaming Tar Barrels or fire barrels crowd injuries.

See disputed points →

Key Facts

At-a-glance summary

0
People Treated
0
Fatalities Verified
5 Nov
Annual Event Date
1
Key Accessible Casualty Source

Chronology

Event sequence

5 November 2007 · Tar Barrels event
The traditional Ottery St Mary fire barrels event took place through the town streets, involving flaming barrels carried by local participants.
During the event
The accessible incident summary reports that spectators or attendees were treated for minor burns and injuries.
Immediate outcome
The key reported outcome was 36 people treated. No fatality was verified from the reviewed source set.
Research limitation
The original BBC page referenced by the lead source did not open, so the direct primary article details, author and publication metadata remain unverified.

Operational Themes

Main risk factors

🔥
Open flame
The event involves flaming tar barrels carried through public streets, creating an obvious burn-contact risk.
🏘️
Street setting
Sources describe a town-centre route through narrow streets, increasing the importance of crowd positioning and movement control.
👥
Spectator proximity
The tradition places spectators close to moving barrels, so minor burns and contact injuries are foreseeable hazards.
📌
Evidence limits
The casualty figure is available through an incident summary, while the original BBC link was not directly verified.
⚠️ Source cautionThe 36-treated figure is the best available reported figure in the accessible source set, but the original BBC article behind it could not be opened during review.

Disputed Details

Conflicting and unresolved points

The incident file contains a narrow verified core: 5 November 2007, Ottery St Mary, and 36 people treated for minor burns and injuries. Several linked or related items need careful handling.

Source Limitation
Original BBC page not directly accessible

The accessible incident page names a BBC report and preserves the key casualty summary, but the original BBC link did not open in the review environment.

Accessible source

Working With Crowds states 36 people were treated for minor burns and injuries.

Unavailable source

The original BBC article metadata and full text were not directly verified.

Use “reported” wording for the casualty count rather than treating the original BBC article as directly reviewed.

Related But Separate
Later 2009 flaming barrel injury report

A Times article about spectators injured by a flaming barrel in 2009 appears as related material, but it is not the 2007 incident.

2007 incident

36 people treated for minor burns and injuries on 5 November 2007.

2009 related item

A later aerosol-can/flaming-barrel incident reported separately in November 2009.

Do not merge the 2009 injury details into the 2007 casualty record. That would be a classic evidence soup. Nobody likes evidence soup.

Not Verified

Unverified details

The following details were not confirmed from the accessible source set.

BBC source
The original BBC article URL and full article text were not directly opened.
Serious injuries
No serious-injury claim beyond “minor burns and injuries” was verified for the 2007 event.
Fatalities
No fatalities linked to the 05/11/2007 incident were verified.
Precise incident spot
No exact street location within Ottery St Mary was verified for the 2007 injuries.

Source Material

References

Sources identified in the incident file, including the key accessible incident summary, official event pages, visitor pages, later contextual features and crowd-safety material.

01
Working With Crowds · Source
Ottery St Mary fire barrels crowd injuries 05/11/2007
05 November 2007 incident entry
Accessible incident summary stating that 36 people were treated for minor burns and injuries during the Ottery St Mary fire barrels event.
⚠️ Key accessible source; original BBC link could not be opened.
Visit Source →
02
BBC News via Working With Crowds · Source
Injuries at fire barrel festival
Publication details not directly verified
Original linked news report named by the accessible summary. The direct BBC article could not be opened during the research pass.
⚠️ Indirectly available only through the lead page.
Visit Source →
03
The Guardian · Source
Catch a fire | United Kingdom holidays
30 October 2008
Contextual travel report describing the Ottery St Mary tradition, with flaming tar barrels carried through the streets as part of Bonfire Night events.
Visit Source →
04
Ottery St Mary Carnival Committee · Source
The Ottery St Mary Carnival Tar Barrels
Current official event page
Official event website confirming the event identity, name and ongoing annual tradition.
Visit Source →
05
Ottery St Mary Carnival Committee · Source
History of the Tar Barrels
Date not shown
Official history page describing the long-running tradition and its link to the town’s annual 5 November event.
Visit Source →
06
Ottery St Mary Town Council · Source
Tar Barrels
Current council event page
Council page confirming the annual town event and its 5 November scheduling, unless the date falls on a Sunday.
Visit Source →
07
Visit Devon · Source
Ottery Tar Barrels
Date not shown
Visitor-information page describing the Ottery St Mary event, crowd setting and town-centre context.
Visit Source →
08
HSE / RR790 · Source
A review of the management of crowd safety at outdoor street/special events
2010-era report
HSE research report containing a case study of the Flaming Tar Barrels at Ottery St Mary, useful for event-format and crowd-management context.
Visit Source →
09
The Times · Source
Spectators injured by flaming barrel of tar at Ottery St Mary parade
10 November 2009
A later related incident involving spectators and a flaming tar barrel. Useful as linked context, not as evidence for the 2007 casualty count.
⚠️ Later incident, not the 2007 event.
Visit Source →
10
Discover Britain · Source
Ottery St Mary Tar Barrels: We meet a tar barrel roller
28 October 2025
Later feature explaining the tradition and confirming the identity and format of the event.
⚠️ Context only; not a casualty source.
Visit Source →

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