Jul 14 2014

Burner Community Processes Its Greatest Tragedy

As Utah Burners return from Element11, more information is coming out about Saturday night’s horrific public suicide.

If you’ve had enough of this story, and would like to move on, it’s as easy as not reading this article and reading something else instead. There are billions of other web pages to take
your mind away from this. Meanwhile, a record number of Burners from around the world are interested in this story, vastly outweighing the few who indignantly profess that it’s time to ignore it.

We’re still waiting on some sort of comment from Burning Man. All they’ve posted is an “emotional survival guide to Burning Man”, written by one of their Directors; and their “gorgeous” and “mandatory” 2014 Survival Guide. If they do make an official comment, we’ll share it here.

The Element11 event organizers seem to be doing a good job of handling the media, under an extreme pressure situation. We commend them for not endangering any more lives while dealing with this unprecedented situation, and their calm and compassionate response to the tragedy.

The event took place on private property in Grantsville, about 36 miles Southwest of Salt Lake City. The theme of this year’s festival was “Into The Wild”, and the effigy “Sparky” was based on a character from Maurice Sendak’s “Where The Wild Things Are” – a book that gave me nightmares as a kid.

If there is any silver lining in this cloud, it is that the event was 18+, so young children did not have to be traumatized by the suicide victim’s public statement.

We would encourage anyone who witnessed the horrific tragedy to seek help, it’s OK. Talking about this with a professionally trained grief counsellor now might help to process the situation and prevent recurring Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms in the future. See the bottom of this post for some links for support.

Sparky, the effigy from Into The Wild at Element11 2014; photo credit: Fox13

Video Stories:

Fox13 was first on the scene

It was the Top Story on KUTV2 news from Utah

ABC4 Utah

Around the World:

New York Daily News: Man commits suicide by leaping into giant bonfire at Burning Man-style festival in Utah

UK Daily Mail: Festival-goer dies at ‘Utah’s Burning Man’ after running into burning 30-foot-tall effigy in apparent suicide

A member of the victim’s family has commented here, sharing that the eyewitness accounts are helping them make sense of the terribly sad event.

The man who committed suicide was a member of my family. Not my burning man family–I’ve never been & don’t plan on ever going (no offense to your community) but my actual everyday life family. He was married, he had a good job with perks, and a life that although it was hard like all our lives are hard was also good. Our family is trying to make sense of this also, which is why I’ve found all the eyewitness accounts posted here fascinating. Personally, I don’t see how he could have committed suicide unless he was under the influence of SOMETHING. Right now my priority is supporting his poor wife, who wasn’t there, and was thrown into shock when police broke the news.

Next time y’all consider calling someone names for committing suicide publicly, please consider all the poor decisions you’ve made when you’ve been drunk or high, and give that person the benefit of the doubt that perhaps they weren’t acting in full possession of their faculties.

Our sincerest condolences go out to the victim’s wife and family.

We have some more detailed eyewitness reports from Burners.

MadMaxine said:

It’s amazing how the rumor mill spins and spins. There was no magnesium in the fire. There were some other accelerants (it takes a bit to get a couple thousand board-feet of old scaffolding planks to go up in flames as a bonfire), but yeah, it was an intensely hot fire- that’s how we build ‘em. Also, among the first things that the e-11 bod did was to get in touch with Burning Man and get their legal and other support, because we know this impacts the entire burn community.

To the burners.me blogger (whoever you are), I really appreciate that you are aggregating all the news on this. It’s hard to find, and you are providing a good service. You are also holding space for people to process and discuss this, as is also occurring on many other discussion groups. Though we all have our –intense– feelings about this, I am hoping that all the “space holders” can see beyond their own thoughts and emotions, and resist the urge to name call or judge anyone or their comments. We all need to let it out at this point, and shushing and “you’re saying it wrong” does not allow that to happen. Anger is definitely one of the stages of grieving, so let’s not turn it on each other.

H was one of the first responders, and offered on-site grief counselling. She says:

The fire became such a hot, huge engulfing blaze that those of us in the front row were scrambling to get back while the perimeter was being enlarged. Rangers and other personnel were working hard to contain the scene. Regardless of personal motive or state, a runner evaded all inner reason and outer restraint and ran into the fire in a way that assaulted all who witnessed his immolation. According to PrestigeFuneralPlans.co.uk, This was not a funeral pyre; this was not a call for help. This was a misguided attempt to be one with a power beyond self that overwhelmed the celebration with grief. While emergency personnel hosed the flames and worked to locate and extricate remains, we in the gathering went from bafflement to shock, then joined hands in a circle as emergency vehicles swept onto Seabase as anything-but-artcars. For all who weren’t there who admonish people for feeling anger at a selfish man’s act of suicide, the experience was tragic and horrific and undeniably sad beyond words. Thanks for the heartfelt speech via the Jellyfish car PA system that got people moving again and then became an announcement for leadership to gather immediately. Thanks to the personnel and organizers who shaped crisis to purpose and got mobilized immediately. The quiet was profound, then muted.
I went into doctor mode and became a first responder for people fainting and felled at the scene, then crisis counselor at center camp. Others were at the Temple; next day it still stood as all remaining burns were cancelled; I wonder how the structures will be repurposed. Amidst smoldering remains of the Wild Thing effigy, a heart of stones with was placed at the spot where the man last stood. My heart goes out to the designer and builders of the structures whose efforts were thwarted from joy and now need our support to move on to other acts of creation.
May we all have peace and closure for this event, tempered like steel in flame to become stronger in purpose and resolve to not let a sole incident define a greater good.

…I have compassion for all the participants, the family and friends of the man who left (not just lost) his life, and the rest of us affected by this tragic event.
I also remember that around the world every day there are countless people shellshocked by war, hatred, rape and other atrocities on personal to public scales of calamity.
Let us heal in ways that we grow stronger.

Burner Del Hargis said:

There is a seed of blessing in all things. The gift of fire is transformation. I’ve come face to face with the depth of my own shortcomings through this fire we all have walked through together this weekend.

I apologize deeply for being so arrogant, self centered and self serving. It has all been a front to hide my fear and pain. My arrogance was a mask for my shame. I have been blind. But now because of a leap into our fire of transformation I can see clearer today.

Thank you Fire Brother for the seed of seeing. Your sacrifice will never be forgot

photo credit: Del Hargis

…My heart is full of every emotion possible today. I know yours is too. Instead of having to figure out how to function in the default world today I wish we could all spend the week together up in the mountains processing and healing our hearts with and through each other.

From the beginning this was our communities most amazing event to date. The organization, attention to details, creativity, the amount of time, talent and love that went into it all was more than evident from the moment you passed the gate.

I have never been more proud of our Utah Burner family than I was of all of us this whole weekend. From the beginning of the event to the end… you were all amazing.

There are so many people to thank, so many details that could be pointed at to describe how incredible the event was. But the one thing that jumps out the most to me is our love.

I love the way we love. Thank you for your love, our greatest art of all.

Burner Zoë said:

The entire three story structure was packed with wood so that it would burn hotter and longer. They also soaked the thing in flammables so that the flames spread quickly. After the fire dancers finished their show the board of directors marched up the the statue with flares and threw them all into it. Within a minute the entire thing was engulfed in flames. The thing was three stories tall, the flames reached even higher.

It burned for a good 10 minutes before that asshole made a run for it. There was a perimiter setup about 60 ft away from the burn. The flames were so hot that people had to back even further away. Even then I was standing behind people because the heat was still burning my skin.

The first thing I saw was the guards running after him. I was right in front so I had a perfect view of everything. When I saw him he was dancing towards the fire. He even stopped to dance backwards for a moment. Continuing his dance he bolted forward again and did a front flip… Right into at the base of the fire… I couldn’t be sure if what I had seen had been real. There was almost no reaction in the crowd. Had they not seen it? Or were they in shock just as bad as I was? I only heard one person scream. I was too disoriented to tell where the sound came from. Later I found out it was Scarlett right in front of me.

Part of the structure kind of collapsed in on him when he went through the beam. At that point, any ridiculous hope that he could still be pulled out was gone. He was buried and no one could get even close to the fire. We were still able to see him though. I watched as his body slowly fell apart as the intense heat cooked him alive. Minutes later, after part of his body had already disintegrated and he should have been dead, his arm started twitching. It kept doing that for what felt like hours but couldn’t have been more than minutes, if that. Even now I still see that arm twitching every time I close my eyes. That or the flip he did right as the jumped in. Neither of those are as bad as the thought that keeps plaguing my mind. He didn’t scream… How is it even possible that he didn’t scream…

As soon as everyone regrouped we stood there watching the fire as the firemen were desperately trying to put it out. My legs went weak and I sat down unable to move. Everyone was crying. Someone mentioned going to the ascension temple (a kind of relaxation tent) instead of watching. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t talk. I just sat there and watched their futile attempts to put it out. As the ash from the fire fell on us, I started to wonder how much of that used to be human flesh? I was unresponsive for somewhere around an hour. I don’t really remember much of that hour. Or the rest of the night for that matter. It would probably be worth mentioning that the acid I took had started peaking right around the time that he had jumped in. Every moment of watching him die had been seared into my mind… As my friend Judas put it “no offense but you’re most likely going to be psychologically scarred for the rest of your li It t be a good idea to avoid acid for a while.”

Eventually the police showed up and one of the asked if we were ok. Our whole group looked pretty bad. My friends explained that we had seen it all and he asked us to fill out witness reports. Standing up to walk over to the police cars was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done.

While we were waiting to fill out statements one of the Element 11 volunteers noticed me and walked over. He was worried that I was just about to be sick. I didn’t respond. He stood there and hugged me for a while as I cried. As we waited they started grouping people with sheets around the remains of the fire. We couldn’t see what they were covering up but we all knew. I could see the paramedics walking to and from the vehicle as they carried what must have been multiple body parts…

The waiting got to be too much. I didn’t want to be around people so I snuck behind the truck and walked off. In the middle of all of that horror I abandoned my best friends out of selfishness… I am more ashamed of that than anything I’ve ever done. They needed me and I just left…

Walking back to camp I was stopped by all kinds of people worried about how I looked. I still wasn’t saying much so they would just give me a hug and tell me to stay around friends. Instead I went back to camp to throw up and be alone. I sat in the van for about an hour just staring at nothing. Replaying the event over and over in my head. My arm kept twitching every time I thought about the way his arm twitched and wondered if he was still alive during that.

After a while one of my friends showed up and we talked about what had just happened. What made us even more sick than watching him burn was the way people reacted. Within minutes there were people asking if they were still going to do the second burn. Worried that the party was going to be shut down and people would have to leave. One couple set up a blanket and everything, so they could “at least watch what was left of the burn.”. One lady kept going off about how it was her birthday that day, and that it was just her luck that something like that would happen. It disgusted me… After about an hour the music was going again and people were back to dancing. “Celebrating life” was their bullshit excuse.

Burner Bluebliss:

Everything [Zoe] explained was exactly how I saw it as well. My boyfriend and I were sitting directly to the right of where the firefighters were stationed. I could not believe what had happened. I was in immense shock and I kept my hand over my face in disbelief for so long. What hit me the hardest was at one point I could have sworn that I saw his hand reach up through the flames.

I also overheard several people talking amongst themselves and one person said, “And he was having such a good night…”

You never expect anything like this to ever happen. You hear about people dying at festivals all the time, but nothing quite like this.

Burner Bryce gives a name to the man, who was in his camp:

Chris was a member of my camp, and beloved of many of my friends. I wish I’d known him better; he struck me as a person well worth knowing: friendly, funny, generous, intelligent, creative.

I saw him jump, watched him from behind the perimeter, though I didn’t know he was from our camp until much later. Reading all these firsthand accounts is… difficult.

My only request: please don’t call his death a “public statement.” We only know what he did, not why. I understand that everyone in this community has been affected by the tragedy, and I feel the same urgency to make sense of it that everyone else does. But those closest to him will be fighting to “make sense” of this for the rest of their lives. My heart goes out to all of you.

Burner Daisey:

He was running out there. He was dancing around a little bit, and then all of a sudden he jumped into it. It’s like he didn’t even know it was fire, it’s like he thought it was just a playground. The whole time I was thinking, ‘He’s going to walk out, he’s going to be OK, he might have severe burns, skin grafts, OK but I thought he was going to survive it.

Burner Carl:

I was there, and I can tell you the reaction of the people around me. At first, it wasn’t obvious what had happened. From our angle of view, he might have run past the fire and not into it. Once it had become clear what had transpired, a sense of shock came over everyone. Everyone was very quiet. A man spoke over the loudspeaker of the JellyFish art car, and spoke words of support and compassion for the man who had just died. The speaker passed along a suggestion that we all hold hands to honor the man who had just died. A long line of people holding hands formed, facing and partially encircling the fire. After this tragedy transpired, it was clear the celebration was over. I have never heard Element 11 be so quiet and subdued. There was a clear sense of shock among the participants, especially among the rangers and volunteers who helped put together this event that is meant to pull everyone together in a positive manner. There were lots of hugs and mutual comfort. Let me pass along my compassion on to the man who died, to his family, his friends, and to all the people who witnessed this tragedy

Burner Loveislife said:

He literally just disappeared after dancing to the flames.

To his family- He made the easiest exit out, weather led by other forces or not. It was as peaceful as could possibly be. He might not have known.. literally disappearing like a magic trick. My thoughts and heart go out out to All. It’s very lucky there was no scream- no noise- no flailing or presence of pain. That is truly something to be grateful for.. Hugs to All!! Embrace your personal moments for the rarity of what we find important is sometimes lost.

Burner Michael said:

this was my first visit to E11, and to Bonnevlle Seabase, a beautiful location for a lovely joyful event. I was resting my legs on a trailer at about 9o’clock as Sparky burned, the leaves and twigs had flashed off in to sparks and the fire was intense through all the heavy, repurposed lumber of the structure. The upper elements had mostly fallen, focussing my attention up high , then I saw the man running in from the right, Rangers running towards him; I thought first he had run round the far side, but it was immediately apparent that he had run straight in.

Very rapidly the First fire hose started where he had gone in, and another started in to the centre, which was too hot for it to have much effect. Everyone near me was stunned, shocked expressions and tears. I went back to my camp and easily decided to keep my whirlpool running, naturally all the music had stopped. People came and we talked and shared and reached out from the moment of shock, back to the life and beauty of the event. I went back to centre camp, felt relief as th e music started back up. Mostly I feel compassion for all those who have visual and visceral memories Faroese distressing than mine

Burner Bingo:

All of us who are witnesses are grieving that one of our own Burner family did something like this.
As our group rose to move back I noticed that a man from somewhere close to us on the perimeter was dancing towards the flames. I thought it was a little soon to do the fire dance. He seemed full of joy waiving his arms and skipping. I assumed was caught up in the moment. Then, as the rangers closed in towards him to tell him to back up, he bolted, spun as he leapt in and landed on his butt. Boards crashed down around him and his hands came up, as if reaching towards the sky. Rangers and firemen moved forward in a vain attempt to rescue him but the heat was too intense. Within what seemed like just 15 seconds the second tier of the structure came down. As someone said, he had a look of joy on his face as he jumped. That joy was sucked out of everyone there and that joy went up in the sky and smoke with him.
Many are trying to understand why, as is his default world family. I know it may be hard, but when you (Grieving Relative), campmates and others who knew him personally are able to talk more about him, it will begin this emotional healing process. I’m sure some in this community can be helped and achieve some sense of closure by knowing more about him, his life, his motivations and his sense of mind before, going and while at E11. The big question most people had afterwards was “Why?” I still do.
I went to sleep last night with the image of him jumping in the flames in my head. I woke up this morning to it. Food has not tasted good since that night, when I can even eat it. I’ll see that image for a long time.
But I’m strong. I’ll get through this. But many will need help after having this moment burned in to their psyche, some brains enhanced by mind expanding substances which makes the impact even deeper. His actions affected everyone. He made his end a public event and now the public who witnessed it needs to come together to help each other.
Saturday night I put aside my own thoughts. My motivations, along with my wife’s, was to help others. We set out across our little city and sought out people standing alone. We checked on them, offered aid, comfort, hugs, anything they needed. We ended up back at our vortex camp and sat until late in the morning, calling out to people who walked by if they needed to talk. Some did. If you are hurting, do not suffer this pain in private. Talk about it.

There are also some questions raised from people who weren’t at the event.

Burner Merritt said:

if I had any clear idea as to why it’s happening I’d say so, but I don’t. All I have is questions. I could guess at a lot of things but they’d all be insensitive because it’s not best to just spew opinions when we’re talking about a growing trend of people trying to throw themselves into the effigy fires or committing suicide in other ways during Burn events.

What I DO think is that everyone always just brushing it off as “it’s the drugs” is sweeping the problem under the carpet.

There are tons of things similar to these events, around the world and throughout history, with fires just as large, and just as much intoxication, and yet they’re not having to try and catch a growing number of “jumpers” each year, or finding someone hanging from the scaffolding who’d been there for hours because everyone thought it was art.

I also think that trying to ignore that it’s a growing problem is also sweeping things under the carpet. So all I’m saying is that I think it’s an issue that could use more open discussion.

For instance here in our region just a few weeks ago at a pre-Burn event, a girl hijacked a golf cart and tried to kill herself by driving it into the fire, which would have knocked the whole thing down onto FRT, and they managed to jump on the golf cart and stop it before it reached the effigy, but not before it knocked over a propane accumulator, and several people were burned, including children.

But nobody wants to talk about it, and if you do try to talk about it you’re “spreading the drama”.

So I don’t know, but it’s my opinion that whatever it is, it’s weirder than just people who are having a bad trip or a bad weekend…and that we’ll never get to a space of trying to figure it out if we never ask the question, WHY?

Why is the Burn scene having this problem, why is it different?

Ra Khan, who is not yet a Burner, saw parallels to the ceremonial rituals of the Druids, which were based around the concept of live human sacrifice inside a Wicker Man as a lesson to spectators about the magical power the Druids held over them. These ancient rituals also form the basis of the elite secret society festival featuring theme camps, a ban on commerce, and nicknames called Bohemian Grove, which is happening over the course of this entire month just north of San Francisco in Monte Rio, Sonoma County.

Your religion has intrigued me for a long time but I’ve always been put off by how it seems so much like the Wicker Man and Bohemian Grove. After seeing this I’m convinced there is something to my initial thought.

Lamp lighters in robes set fire to an effigy of the god Moloch in a ritual ceremony at Bohemian Grove

Helpful resources:

There is no shame in reaching out for help at a time like this. Everybody processes trauma differently, and you may not even realize if you are suffering subconsciously.

Kevin Hansen has offered support and counselling:

If any of the E11 staff or participants are needing someone to talk with today, I am making myself available to you.

I have 20 years’ experience as a NLP/Hypnosis/Shamanic Practitioner and I work specifically with PTSD and trauma.

Please feel free to contact me at kevin@cognitivechanges.com

Burner Lori shared this guide to processing post-traumatic stress.

Burner Paul has shared this video about coping with suicide:

National Suicide Prevention Hotline: No matter what problems you are dealing with, we want to help you find a reason to keep living. 1-800-273-TALK

Jul 13 2014

BREAKING: Burner Dies at Utah Regional [Updates]

Burners who attended Element11, the Utah Regional burn, this weekend witnessed a terrible tragedy. A man committed suicide very publicly, by running into the fire as they burned their effigy under the Full Moon.

Sparky, the Element11 effigy, based on Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. photo credit: Fox13 News, Salt Lake City

The fire, 1 minute prior to the tragedy.

Official statement from Utah Burners:

On behalf of Element 11 – our official statement: We acknowledge there was indeed a fatality last night at Element 11 (Utah’s regional). This is a deeply upsetting event with tragic results. Our hearts go out to the Utah community and to the attendees of Element 11. This is a tragic event, and we struggle to respond to it. We ask for your patience while we find the appropriate resources, but please know that we are committed to supporting those affected by this event in the best way we can

There has been an outpouring of grief and sympathy on Facebook from the Burner community. Our thoughts and prayers go to all of the 1200-strong crowd who had to suffer from this tragedy, and particularly those Burners who had to witness the horrific event.

Burner Chris: its real, and it happened. i saw it and it was horrifying. Love and light goes out to everyone affected. Sad day….The perimeter was in place. the fire got large and hot enough that everyone moved back. in the scramble he was able to get through the perimeter…it did continue, as much as it could. there was silence so quiet afterwards nobody spoke over a whisper… [the event continued] remaining effigy’s were not allowed to burn. people were comforting each other best they could.

Burner Rissa: I watched this entire tragic event as it happened. He full on ran and jumped into the fire. Several ppl were running after him trying to stop him. But unfortunately they were not quick enough. It was pretty devastating to watch. My heart goes out to his family for the loss. The whole thing is stuck in my mind. I couldn’t ever imagine being a place in the mind that his actions were the resolution…I still can’t believe that I watched the whole thing. The images of his hand reaching up through the flames will stick with me for a long time. I still am having a hard time believing that this was real…

Burner Michael: This was my first visit to E11, and to Bonnevlle Seabase, a beautiful location for a lovely joyful event. I was resting my legs on a trailer at about 9o’clock as Sparky burned, the leaves and twigs had flashed off in to sparks and the fire was intense through all the heavy, repurposed lumber of the structure. The upper elements had mostly fallen, focussing my attention up high , then I saw the man running in from the right, Rangers running towards him; I thought first he had run round the far side, but it was immediately apparent that he had run straight in.

Burner H: In the midst of tragedy, we held hands as emergency vehicles arrived and helped one another cope with fear and loss of innocent revelry. While “what next” has yet to be determined, I am very touched by the commitment and rapid response that leadership, volunteers, and others provided to support a sense of community encountering and transcending crisis…I was glad to help as a first responder at the perimeter for people in shock, then as a crisis worker at Center Camp. There was a lot of healing in our community, but so much hurt. I am here for people in need.

Burner Erik: This event was 18 and up only. The image of his hand reaching up will be with me for the rest of my life. Witnessing this will forever change how i view the frailty of life. The event paused for a hour or so after this occurred before slowly continuing on. I personally dedicated my entire 3 hour dj set to all of my fellow burners there and to the camp that is returning home with one less brother to call upon.

Burner Grant: As I rushed around the playa last night trying to find and check in with all my people, I had two dozen strangers stop me, hug me, and make sure I was okay. Thank you, all. This is a beautiful community and I love it more than ever.

Burner Victoria: A man ran and Dove into the effigy.. Right after it was lit up.. In front of the whole burn…

Burner Brandi: He was calm and peaceful when he did it. Most likely under the influence. We are a little traumatized right now

Burner Brittan: People tried to stop him… It happened fast

Burner Darren: everyone has remained calm. the event staff are doing an excellent job for the situation

Burner Sweeney: I have so far spoken to two friends who were Rangering perimeter. Frankly nothing would make me retract the word unfairly in relation to the fact that this happened on their watch, I think this act was desperately unfair on those who give up so much and work so hard to keep us all safe. Much love to all who held space that night.

Burner Mehgun: I’m still shaking. It was so horrible.

Burner Nina: At flipside in Tx, Yes regional bm, they have sanctuary staffed with professional counselors, mental health pros and super easy to talk to people for anyone that feels they need it.

This brings to mind two other very public Burner suicides, the body of Jermaine Barley that was found hanging (possibly for hours) at queer camp Comfort and Joy in 2007, and ~~arsonist~~ convicted felon/protestor Paul Addis jumping in front of a train in San Francisco in 2012.

Suicide is always a tragedy, and inflicts pain on everyone who knew the person. Something like this, though, is terribly scarring for all those who had to witness it. All three Burner suicides were public statements that inflicted the victim’s pain upon innocent witnesses who had done nothing to them.

The question needs to be asked: is there anything our community could have done to prevent this? Now, or in the future. Could the principle of radical inclusion somehow be a trigger: a person feels excluded so they think “I’ll show them”? This is certainly a twisted form of self expression, immediacy, and leave no trace. A trace is left in the hearts and souls of all the witnesses, and the family and friends of the victim.

National Suicide Prevention Hotline: No matter what problems you are dealing with, we want to help you find a reason to keep living. 1-800-273-TALK

[Update 7/13/14 3:05pm]

We will continue to update this story as news comes in. Since the event got TV coverage on Fox News in Utah before the tragedy, we expect that there will be mainstream media coverage once the victim’s family have been notified.

Here is a comment from a witness who wishes to remain anonymous:

I am still reeling from what I witnessed last night. I’m sure everyone there felt the same way.
We were at Utah’s regional Burning Man event. The apex of such events is the burn of a very large fire. I remember my first time, 8 years ago at the same event, seeing the burn. I’d never seen a controlled flame like that. There was such power and majesty in it. Its effects on everyone were undeniable. There is something primal and unifying about a fire so large. Everyone is drawn to the heat and the light and their barriers come down. We feel instinctual, we feel human, we feel safe, we feel equal, we feel catharsis, and we feel joy. We are completely present in the moment and simultaneously understand the ephemeral nature of our lives. People drum, dance, hug, some even get naked and dance near the flames and feel the fire singe their skin.
This year’s effigy was beautiful. The inner frame was made of 2x4s and the outer layers were made from branches. There was a perimeter clearly marked and everyone sat outside the perimeter. The firefighters stood at the ready while the effigy became a very tall, very beautiful fire. We all celebrated.
And then someone ran toward the flame. Danced toward the flame was more accurate. We watched him get close, far too close. Halfway between the perimeter line and the fire. There are usually hippies that do something like this. They get closer than the rest of us and walk out with sunburns. He paused a bit and just danced in place, swinging his arms like a windmill and kicking his feet behind him. The firefighters moved in (I’m imagining they just wanted to be able to pull him out of there in case he collapsed from the heat.) And then the man just danced further toward the fire. Firefighters started to follow but before they could get to him, the man danced up to the edge and then just calmly jumped in. Just laid down in the fire and then disappeared into the flames. The firefighters tried to move in but the blaze was too big. They doused out the fire as we all watched in horror.
Since then, I can’t get the image out of my mind of this man just spinning his arms and kicking his feet and jogging into the fire. He didn’t shield his face. He didn’t hunker down like he was preparing for pain. He didn’t run fast. He calmly and deliberately danced and laid down in the fire. I never saw him struggle.
There were 1,200 people at the event and every single one of them was watching as this happened.
I don’t think this has ever happened in the history of burning man. (I’ve been looking.) My mind won’t stop going in circles. Why did he do it? Who was he? What was he thinking? I can’t imagine any of these answers and I don’t think I’ll ever have them.
My immediate desire was to go home to my children and hold them safe.
I feel tremendous emotion that I can’t identify. Confusion, sadness, fear. I mostly just don’t understand why.
My love to all those affected by this tragedy.

In 2001, someone did deliberately run into a fire in Deep Playa, and died later of his burns in the Reno hospital. In 2005, Anthony Beninati from Los Angeles accidentally fell in the fire, and then sued BMOrg. He lost his appeal.

[Update 7/13/14 10:57pm] Burner Frosty was a witness, and did not see it go down exactly the way the Anonymous commenter described it above. He says in the comments to our article:

CORRECTION: the “anonymous witness” in the article above is quoted as saying “the man just danced further toward the fire. Firefighters started to follow but before they could get to him, the man danced up to the edge and then just calmly jumped in. Just laid down in the fire and then disappeared into the flames.”

NO – nothing could be farther from what happen.

when i first saw this person, they were running wildly across the playa: whether to escape the rangers or dancing i do not know. very quickly, he then raced towards the fire. about 10-15 feet away, he suddenly stopped (from the heat?), then just as quickly took a step backwards for momentum, and then they launched themselves full tilt into the fire, running as fast as he could the last 10-15 feet, jumping high with the last step, and hurling themselves into the flames while curling his arms around his body as he sailed into the air. he landed right into a corner and then simply lay there where he landed, ablaze, until about 30 seconds later the charred corpse suddenly jerked its arms; the animal within releasing its death throe.

why is this important?!!

because it would be very wrong, sad and unfair to think that the rangers and firefighters ensuring security would simply let someone “calmly walk into the fire”.

There was nothing “calm” about what happened. it was a violent act. the person who took their own life did so in a violent way, leaping with force into flames.

it was also a violent act thrust upon 1200 unsuspecting spectators, myself included, who have spent all night and all day trying to forget the horror played out for them.

It’s clear that this person was deliberate in what they did, and the fire safety volunteers did the right thing so that no more lives were endangered.

[Update 7/13/14 4:34pm]

Fox13 News in Salt Lake City has a video story from the event. They will have an interview with an eyewitness in an update later tonight.

TOOELE COUNTY, Utah — Event organizers of Element 11, a festival referred to by many as Utah’s version of Burning Man, released a statement Sunday after a man died in what appears to be a suicide by jumping into a large fire surrounded by hundreds of festival-goers.

Sunday is the final day of the festival, and the incident occurred Saturday around 11 p.m. when a three-story structure representing a character from the book “Where the Wild Things Are” was being burned.

Festival officials said as the art project was being burned (burning the art is an integral part of the festivities) a man suddenly rushed past security and jumped into the fire. Officials said there were between 25 and 40 volunteers forming a perimeter around the fire to prevent people from getting too close. Those nearby attempted to shout at the man and even chase him, but they were unable to prevent him from jumping.

Officials said that once the man was in the fire there was nothing they could do, as they said attempting to intervene could have led to more deaths.

Safety coordinator J.P. Bernier spoke about the incident and the impact it will have on their procedures going forward.

“The people that form that perimeter, it’s not a hand-in-hand circle around: There is space between these people so it will definitely have an impact about how we treat that perimeter in the future for sure,” he said. “But I’m not going to place any blame on our community members or our volunteers. Everybody was in the right place at the right time. This guy was really motivated. He was fast, he didn’t respond to commands to stop, he clearly had an objective.”

Element 11 officials delivered a verbal statement Sunday to FOX 13 News’ Robert Boyd regarding the incident, which is available below.

“This is a deeply upsetting event with tragic results, our hearts go out to the Utah community and the attendees of Element 11. This is a tragic event and we struggle to respond to it we ask for your patience while we find the appropriate resources but please know we are committed to supporting those who are affected by this event in the best way we can.”

Police officials said they are working to identify the victim and notify his family.

The event is held in Bonneville Seabase near Grantsville and spans several days. It features art projects created during the year, which participants then burn at the end of the festival.

Editor’s note: As a rule FOX 13 News does not cover deaths that appear to be a suicide unless the action has a wider impact on the community–as in cases like this that unfold in such a public manner.

[Update 7/13/14 7:48pm]

The story has been covered by the Deseret News:

GRANTSVILLE — One man died Saturday night after witnesses say he ran into a ceremonial bonfire at a regional burning festival Saturday night.

The annual event, put on by Element 11, is a spinoff of the Burning Man festival held in Black Rock City, Nevada. As part of the event, several effigies about 30 feet tall are constructed out of dry wood and ceremoniously burned, according to Element 11 spokesman J.P. Bernier.

Because the burning produces extreme heat, volunteers form a perimeter around the burning for the safety of other participants, Bernier said.

After 11 p.m., volunteers noticed a man who came running forward through the crowd and went past the perimeter. Volunteers made attempts to call out and stop the man, but they were unsuccessful in preventing him from jumping into the fire, Bernier said.

“The nature of the fire is such that our volunteers were not able to get close enough to the fire for risk of their own safety,” Bernier said. “He was very fast; he was very motivated. It wasn’t an accident or any act of negligence on anybody’s part. He had a very deliberate objective to get past our volunteers, past our safety perimeter.”

The victim’s name was not released Sunday. Grantsville police issued a very brief statement only saying that they were investigating “a fatality at an event being held within Grantsville City.”

Many participants were distraught and confused by the suddenness of the incident, according to a participant and a documentary photographer named Christian, who declined to provide his last name.

“I did see that a lot of the community was shocked and traumatized,” he said. “There’s a lot of questions, a lot of facts that are unknown.”

Doug Johnson said the incident was the first of its kind that he’s seen after attending the event for more than a dozen years.

“I was blown away,” Johnson said. “Fifteen years and I’ve never had anything like that happen, ever.”

More than 100 volunteers help facilitate the regional event, which is intended to “ignite a culture of creativity in the community,” Bernier said. The event hosted more than 1,200 attendees, and members of the volunteer Grantsville Fire Department were present.

A burning scheduled for Sunday morning was canceled after Saturday’s incident.

Christian said safety has been an ever-growing priority at the event over the five years he’s been attending.

“This is the first event that I was restricted as a documentary photographer to ever get near anything there because safety was such a concern,” he said. “And the fact that he had to break through that barrier anyway, I would just say that it was not something that was easily prevented at all.”

Bernier said that while safety procedures were followed, policies will be examined in the hope that such incidents will be prevented in the future.

“We’ll definitely look at our policies,” Bernier said

[Update 7/13/14 8:09pm] Fox13 in Utah have updated their story with a new video, including a couple of witness statements:

Witnesses at the festival said the death is something they never could have imagined. Some of them are even taking it personally.

“There were people crying and some were just kind of in shock,” said a festival-goer who only calls himself Spice. “There were a couple of fellows that were running to stop him and missed him and some of them couldn’t go toward the fire because it was too intense and they are taking that pretty hard.”

Del Hargis said everyone who participates in this event is part of a family, and this weekend they are grieving like a family.

“I was instantly moved,” he said. “So much so my friends around me started saying ‘Del must have known him, what was his name Del?’ and I personally could hardly breathe at the time and I said, ‘one of us, he is one of us.’”

Element 11 does say the man was not alone. He was surrounded by people who cared.

“He was camped here with people who did know him and loved him and welcomed him into their camp and into their group,” Bernier said.

The event is held in Bonneville Seabase near Grantsville and spans several days. It features art projects created during the year, which participants then burn at the end of the festival.

[Update 7/13/14 9:15pm] The story was covered by the Daily Mail in the UK.

Still no official comment from Burning Man.

[Update 7/13/14 9:38pm] The suicide is getting some coverage on Reddit. It didn’t take long for the story to somehow get twisted into hating on us:

Whoever writes burners.me is a shitty fucking person. These poor people have had no time to get ahead of this horrible event. They’re running on no sleep, their burn is STILL happening and they have an entire burn to break down between today and tomorrow. They’re being hounded by media too. Where’s the compassion at?

Where’s your compassion at? There’s no sensationalism here, and certainly no accusations of blame. We’re just trying to gather whatever information we can about what happened from public statements online. I don’t see anyone else doing that, and I hardly expect BMOrg are going to. There are rumors on Facebook, that we’ve chosen not to publish here.

Art1san the hater is concerned about legal liability, and the effect on their own event. They love that Fox News covered the story, which included interviewing witnesses. For some reason, though, we’re terrible for sharing public comments that others have made on the Internet.

I’ve actually been live streaming the news coverage. Your outlet, [Fox 13] so far, has been really kind. Seeing that is awesome and I commend your team on that.

…Speaking as someone involved very heavily in the lead structure of a regional burn (I don’t want to name it because reasons) I can tell you we have been scrambling to try and get ahead of this with our underwriters. The ripple affects of this will be far reaching. One thing that’s terrible is JP Burnier and the words he’s saying. The org/staff of E11 need to CEASE right now, contact their attorneys and get legal advise. They need to contact BM contacts to help walk them through managing this crisis, if they haven’t already. E11 is opening itself up to legal pursuit by making statements that go in print. It’s really terrible to see, and I hope E11 makes it through this, it would be sad to see a 13 year burn vanish because of one persons actions.

…The thing is, even though the volunteers aren’t at fault, the org for the burn may be held liable. They’ve got a fire safety staff member saying on print that there were holes in their perimeter, which is a basic admission of fault. The PR isn’t being handled well on this at all, unfortunately.

Who’s hounding whom? I didn’t get that from Element11’s statements at all. Everyone has said that to pursue the victim any further would have endangered the lives of the fire safety volunteers. I’m sure there are 1200 witnesses who would swear to the same thing. Maybe Art1san should quit dumping on JP Bernier and the rest of the Element11 crew, and give them a break – and stop putting ideas of lawsuits into people’s heads. You brought it up dude, not us.

Some other comments from Reddit:

Burner travel64 said: I was there and it was fucked up. The fire was so intense that once he crossed a certain point it would be impossible to tackle him or hold him back. I was around 90 yards from the flames and they were so incredibly hot. Magnesium was used in the burn which can reach temperatures of 5000f, to give you an idea of how hot it was. The volunteers and fire fighters did absolutely nothing wrong and there was nothing they could do without endangering their own lives. No one was expecting this to happen so by the time they reacted it was already too late. I pray that this story is not twisted to make those noble volunteers look at fault. This is a very tight community where everyone are friends and pride themselves on being helpful and thoughtful towards others.

Burner Buttfartmcpoopus said: I was there as well. Luckily I didn’t actually see him, only the commotion surrounding it when people tried to go after him. It was still very surreal and difficult to stand helplessly and watch a fire that I knew someone was inside of, dying and burning away in front of 1,200 people. What a heavy, complicated night. Nobody is to blame for this. Everyone did everything they could. This man clearly made a decision that he wasn’t going to let anyone intervene on. So far the news outlets have been respectful, which I am grateful for

Wordofgreen, from Fox13, in response to the question “anyone know if drugs were involved?”: We haven’t heard anything, that I’m aware of here in the newsroom, that would indicate that is the case.

Jun 24 2014

Oregon Town Looks To Burning Man For Inspiration

Earlier this year we reported on some anti-Burner sentiment developing in Northern Nevada (The Natives Are Restless). Reno was quick to respond, with a front-page love letter to Burning Man the next day. Then Burning Man was named an “official event” of Nevada’s year-long, State-wide, sesquicentennial celebrations – one of 122.

The small town of Klamath Falls, OR – the “City of Sunshine” – is jumping on the bandwagon too. And good news: they want us. At least, one commentator does: The Klamath Rant. The town is about three hours drive from Black Rock City, and they claim a quarter of all Burners heading to the party pass through it. The Rant takes a look at the opportunity that Burners could offer for economic development, if only town officials could get past their “hippie” bias.

Hippie Town has it Better Than Klamath

Burning Man is an infamous event that occurs every year in late August in northern Nevada, a 3.5-hour drive from Klamath Falls. Calling it an event is only partially accurate. Considering the infrastructure, this is a city that exists for two weeks. Organizers call it Black Rock City.

Residency of Black Rock City has increased every year since its inception in the early 90s. In 1998 the population was 23,000, roughly the size of Klamath Falls. In 2014 it bulged to 68,000. Roughly one-quarter of the traffic driving to Burning Man passes through Klamath Falls, a fact which some gas stations, hotels, and stores are keenly aware of. Klamath as a whole has yet to cater directly to this accidental tourism, and that is a shame.

Truly curious is that while Klamath can’t maintain consistent commercial air service, Black Rock City is served by several air carriers. Unlike Klamath, they receive no subsidies for their airport, no government marketing funds, and have never solicited commercial air service. They actually discourage it. Klamath continues to clamor for carrier solutions to no avail. More private aircraft visit during the two weeks of Burning Man than an entire year at the Klamath airport. The contrast between these two remote areas is a testament to the ineptitude of Klamath’s myopically deluded community of managers.

In pointing out the obvious, we tend to gift cures to those whom we loathe. Is the the sport of illustrating local incompetence is worth the price of the effort? These people consume our breadcrumbs, then take credit for out-of-the-box thinking. They get paid for it, we do not. And that is the crux of what makes Black Rock City such a huge success and Klamath an enormous failure. Klamath fails to reward creative that don’t fit the limited conservative profile…

Klamath Falls needs to be far more interesting and creative in much different ways (not the car show, fair, quilting, bird watching, gun show activities we’ve been engaged in like most rural communities). The only way we can envision this happening is if the old guard that insists on occupying positions of authority in defense of the status quo suddenly steps down and allows a generation with a different mindset to take over. This isn’t just the people who keep getting re-elected: we’re talking about entire administrations…

In this age, places that reward and integrate the creativity of outliers tend to be economically successful. Ashland, Bend and Hood River are shining examples of towns that fully embraced youthful creativity. In any of these communities, musicians and artists feel immediately welcomed. As they become part of the inviting atmosphere, they build vibrancy. Not only are their ideas incorporated, their creative pursuits are monetized into the business fabric. This is a major reason why property values in those three communities have escalated while Klamath’s has continued to decline. When faced with choices that some would call opportunities, we chose boring.

…With awareness that the general population considers Burning Man an enigmatic joke, we catered to that feeling by hooking the reader by placing “hippie” in the title. This archetype has rolled eyes since the 60s. Such categorization allows Burning Man to be readily dismissed as something that offers no lessons for communities like Klamath. This is unfortunate because there are many ways to adapt their practices to cure the stale funk that permeates Klamath’s rural society

…To dispel the negative mythology, consider the people who call themselves Burners. Burning Man consistently attracts annual residency from commercial superstars. These include:

Mark Zuckerberg, the 30-year-old CEO and founder of Facebook. His net worth is estimated at $30 billion. Also from Facebook was Dustin Moskovitz, 30, net worth $6.8 billion.

Sergey Brin, age 41 with a networth of $31 billion and Larry Page, also 41 with a net worth of $31.2 billion are co-founders of Google also go to Burning Man (they also attended Stanford in Palo Alto).

Elon Musk, 43, net worth of $8.4 billion, CEO of Telsa Motors, co-founder of Paypal and SpaceX.

Jeff Bezos, 50, Founder and CEO of Amazon, net worth $32 billion.

These are the most famous captains of industry that attend. A substantial portion of the rest of the Black Rock City population are upper and mid level managers of major companies, entrepreneurs, investors, and engineers.

On the creative side are numerous movie stars, musicians, Djs, and models. Shawn Combs aka P Diddy, 45, net worth $700 million, rapper, actor, record producer men’s fashion designer. Also known to attend are Paris Hilton, Anne Hathaway, Susan Sarandon, General Wesley Clark, Bjork, Daft Punk…the list goes on.

These people are drawn to join a city that exists for two weeks in a Nevada location that is far more rural and isolated than Klamath…

How does all this link back to Klamath?

We learn the lesson that anchoring amenities such as air service doesn’t require government assistance if a community can figure out how to be creative, open and interesting.

Klamath hinges the majority of its tourism marketing on the presence of Crater Lake. The problem is, Crater Lake does nothing to sustain interest or improve the social fabric necessary for development and retention. Jackson County and Medford were way ahead of Klamath in becoming the portal to Crater Lake. Their advantage is they have other creative anchors like Ashland and Jackson Hot Springs that build resilience. Visitors are not impressed by the visitor experience in Klamath over Medford in any way. There’s less to do, fewer shops, and a void of visible creativity. If Crater Lake works as an anchor, why hasn’t it been attracting the A-list that frequents Burning Man?
Creatives require unsanctioned gathering places. Klamath offers none. The Ross Ragland and the Fairgrounds are not conducive to sponaneous, organic gatherings.
The use of natural amenities in creative ways draws creatives. Many Burners enjoy visiting area hot springs during their trek. With all its geothermal resources, Klamath only offers an atypical swimming pool that is not an adult attractor in any sense. Take the Breitenbush Hotspring example between Bend and Salem, for example. They have built a cultural creative persona around geothermal soaking and camping. The Wellsprings between Ashland and Medford has been reinvented as a creative village for wellness with regular concerts and free-association binges.
Less obvious and difficult to pin down are the myriad of city and county regulations and procedures that kill creativity. The thing creatives dislike more than all else is nonsensical bureaucracy that feels like prejudice in practice. That is the greatest barrier locals need to devote the most effort to overcome.

Due to anchor points of a physical nature (OIT, National Guard, Hospital, County Seat), Klamath isn’t going to die, but it will continue to exist in a zombie-like state of limbo, gnawing on the brains of transients – not unlike Lakeview in the mid-90s. There you had a community devastated by the reduction of timber harvesting and value-added manufacturing. They spun in circles for many years, taking large government subsidies, but turning away the few business development opportunities that visited them. The state located a prison in Lakeview that the locals were vehemently opposed to. They are used to it now and in spite of themselves, have seen some peripheral investments such as a tactical training facility. These unwanted investments brought enough employment to sustain or rebuild a few dying eateries and stores.

That’s what happens to communities in limbo. Those that fail to attract favorable investments end up being the dumping ground for projects no one else in the state wants. At Klamath’s current state, there’s no reason to expect a different outcome…

…The best thing Klamath could do is the easiest. Being in a location where 25% of the Burning Man traffic passes, there are many projects Klamath could invoke that would not only capitalize on this human migration, but use it to attract and retain creatives in the long-term.

It simply doesn’t work to write-off that crowd of Burners as penniless vagabonds, certainly not when you consider the multi-billion net worth of the A-list. Tally the net worth of the rest of the lists down the alphabet and there is a substantial pool of capital being spent somewhere, usually not in Klamath. This is something the Chamber of Commerce should be addressing, but they are not. Or the Tourism Department, who just can’t comprehend that Burners are typically more affluent than the dwindling supply of common tourists in spite of their strange appearances and hippie personas as they stampede through.

Still don’t get it? OK, here’s the great idea we won’t see any credit for…

Create and publicize a large stopover campground for Burners along with a vendor fair. Burners prefer to buy their supplies and bling along the way because it makes their long drive more comfortable if their vehicles are not so crowded in the beginning. (Some Burners on the drive are travelling all the way from Vancouver, BC and Seattle). If they know there are places to scrounge supplies and junk for re-purposing, they will make a point of spending more time and money in Klamath. There is surplus unused acreage south of Klamath Falls and extra funding in the Tourism budget to pay for staging this a token to win Burner affection. The community college has its own acreage to offer, but it would probably be too great a stretch for them to wrap their minds about creative use of their unused property. We certainly wouldn’t want to unleash creativity on a college campus around these parts.

The County and the City have in the past shut down numerous locals that wanted to host flea markets. Creatives love flea markets and the absence of a junk marketplace continues to harm Klamath’s bootstrappers. The County also seems to frown on collections of RVs camping on any land except the one campground in the City of Klamath Falls (KOA…small and difficult to maneuver into) or the fairgrounds (for rare special events only). These archaic policies need to be eliminated in a very open manner if Klamath chooses to embrace, rather than ignore the tremendous financial resources represented by the annual Burner migration.

Read the full post here.

People of Klamath, please understand, that to find a town that welcomed Burners with open arms, year round, would be a dream come true for our community. And yes, we have a LOT of billionaires – probably more billionaires than any other party on earth, except Bohemian Grove. Your airport looks big enough for their private jets and space craft, with lots of vacant land around it. Throw the party there, and Burners can jet directly into their camp, without any dust issues…P.Diddy might even bring his boom box.

Burners.me

Snarky. Cheeky. Grumpy. Dopey. Never Bashful.

Tag Archives: regionals

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