Hi there! Besides qualifications, there are other reasons to not do this. Firstly, 10 minutes is a long time to have a fire burning! A lot can happen, and it tends to be uncontrollable unless you're working with a fixed fuel source such as propane (which you'll also need additional licensing and permits for). If you're working with low tech materials like sterno cans in a
line, bad things can happen like the combined heat
build up and transference from one can to another liquifies the fuel source too rapidly, flame burn higher, sputter, go down,
etc. And you'd need to have some type of non-flammable and heat absorbing containment
system. And keep flammable items far enough away. And then if you do pull this off, there's a lot of
smoke from real fires, which also create an observable odor in the entire theater.
We worked on the
stage musical version of "Women on the Verge", with a scene where sheets and a bed burn up. Between the
pyro firm, the prop company, us, and the set designer, there were a couple months of design of the burn
system, testing, finding the right size fuel source, the right fabric for the sheets, proper amount of flame retardant to keep the sheets from burning too quickly. In the end it worked great, but in the actual show the audience stopped paying attention to the actors on
stage and watched the fire instead, and then started wondering about the
smoke, the bad smell permeating the theater, and also started wondering about their own
safety. And this was with lots of R&D and executed by specialists, and while it was great visually for about 10 seconds it created lots of other problems.
So, I'd say not only is the
safety factor insurmountable in nearly every instance unless you have a large budget, from the aesthetic view
point it's not that great in actuality.
However, I'd suggest you learn for yourself to see what's required. Go talk with both your local fire
house and also the Fire Prevention Bureau of your state or county. Tell them what you'd like to do and ask them how you can achieve it, and yes it'll probably be complicated, expensive, and time-consuming. You'll possibly also need to go to the Building Dept to ask about temporary gas
line permits, and permit to store and use propane indoors if that's the route you go.