Highly acclaimed motivational speaker Tony Robbins recently encouraged his audience to walk on fire; literally. However, the mental challenge he delivered at his "Unleash The Power Within" event took a turn for the worse this past Saturday, as several of the individuals were injured while attempting to step over hot coals.

According to the LA Times, San Jose firefighters had to treat the 21 bare foot audience members to both second and third degree burns. Fortunately, officials did say that none of the participants injuriesappeared to be life threatening.

Jonathan Correll, who was a witness at the speaking engagement described the dramatic event as follows:

"I heard wails of pain, screams of agony." He also saw one young female seem to be in such intense pain "it was horrific."

Robbins delivered a statement of his own in response to the ordeal.

"We have been safely providing this experience for more than three decades. We continue to work with local fire and emergency personnel to ensure this event is always done in the safest way possible," he finished.

City officials said that the Robbins camp did indeed have the proper permit for the burning challenge.

Interesting to note, Oprah Winfrey had successfully walked across the hot coals during one of the speaker guru's speeches.

Bare feet on fire? Ouch! When they say those boots are made for walking they weren't kidding.