Burning Man: No fences around Man, Temple burns this year

Jenny Kane | Reno Gazette Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Watch: Burning Man Temple sneak peek Architect Arthur Mamou-Mani talks about his inspiration for this year's Burning Man Temple, called Galaxia.

Burning Man is borrowing Nevada’s slogan, “Don’t fence me in,” this year.

The Burning Man organization on Thursday stated officially that no fences would surround this year's major burns, including the Man burn. Burning Man, which attracts 80,000 people to the Black Rock Desert each year, will be held from Aug. 26 to Sept. 3 this year.

Attendees were curious and concerned how Burning Man organizers and officials with the Bureau of Land Management, the federal agency that oversees the event, would handle fire safety protocol after a man’s death last year.

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Aaron Joel Mitchell, a 41-year-old American man living in Switzerland, died after running into the fire as the 105-foot-tall Man effigy and surrounding structure was engulfed in flames. The next evening, officials chose to surround the Temple burn, another major burn, with fencing.

“We are implementing new security measures including more safety personnel and longer perimeter holds for large scale burns,” said Burning Man spokesman Jim Graham.

“There will be no fences at the large burns,” he added.

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Perimeter holds are protective barriers of volunteers, ensuring that attendees do not endanger themselves by getting too close to active burns. Trained emergency response teams also staff burns.

The BLM would not comment on whether it would change its protocol, but BLM officials work closely with Burning Man organizers to coordinate operations.

"Public health and safety is the BLM's top priority during the Burning Man event and the agency will not release details from the security plan that could negatively impact their effectiveness," said BLM spokesman Kyle Hendrix. "Sensitive information from the security plan could be abused if released and has the potential to create additional public health and safety concerns."

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