MrBeast Traps Contestant in Burning Building, Defends Safety Protocols Afterward

MrBeast's standing by his choice to trap a stuntman inside a burning building for a cash prize ... arguing the guy's a pro and firefighters were on standby ... so, it was all totally safe.

Here's the deal ... the YouTube star recently posted a video which pushed a stuntman to the absolute limit -- firing him out of a cannon, surviving massive explosions ... and even getting tied up in a house before it's lit on fire.

It's this last stunt many people online popped off about ... and, if you watch the clip, it's not hard to see why.

The man escapes from a series of ropes before grabbing a couple duffel bags, breaking a glass door and dropping them outside.

Instead of running from the fire, the stuntman heads back into the building ... grabbing more bags and repeating the process. By the end, he's grabbed five bags -- $250K -- and his shoes are on fire, as the room inside is fully engulfed in flames.

Some on social media called MrBeast a psychopath for setting up this dangerous test ... while others say it's a dumb move -- 'cause you can never make situations like these 100% safe.

However, MrBeast says everything was aboveboard ... writing on X, "If you’re curious obviously we had ventilation for the smoke and a kill switch to cut off the fires. We had professionals test this extensively and the guy in the video as stated is a professional stunt man. I take safety more serious than you could ever imagine."