‘Chicago Fire’ stars chosen as Fire Festival marshals

(Above) Chicago Fire stars Taylor Kinney (center) and Jesse Spencer (right) appear on NBC’s Today show last year. (Click on images to view larger versions.)

4-Sep-14 – It does seem like an obvious choice. Two stars from the NBC television show Chicago Fire will be the Grand Marshals at the Great Chicago Fire Festival in October. The theater company Redmoon, which is producing the festival, made the announcement on Wednesday.

Taylor Kinney portrays Lieutenant Kelly Severide on the series and Jesse Spencer is Lieutenant Matthew Casey.

Soon after sunset on October 4, Kinney and Spencer will set on fire one of at least six “fire cauldrons” that will then be lowered from bridges from State Street to Columbus Drive to watercraft on the Chicago River.

The craft will ferry the flames to three moored platforms supporting structures that represent iconic architecture of the city prior to the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

The structures will burn until the inner workings of each building is revealed. The fires will eventually be doused using water and mist.

Hundreds of performers will participate in the 90-minute event, which celebrates the rebirth of the city following the 1871 fire.

(Left) Redmoon tests by constructing a portion of a sculpture and setting it on fire.

(Right) A fire sculpture under construction at Redmoon’s build shop in the Pilsen neighborhood southwest of the Loop.

Handling the gas-powered fire effects will be Pyrotechnico, a fireworks company started in 1889 and now based in Pennsylvania. The company performed fireworks shows for the Super Bowl in 2003 and the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

• Previous story: Chicago River spectacle less than four months away
• Website: The Great Chicago Fire Festival