Burning Man 2007

After years of harassment I finally gave into a good friend’s request and Volunteered for Burning Man. This would make it my 4 visit, though I haven’t been there since ’99. It’s usually at this time that people ask me “What is Burning man?” Well there are as many answers to that question as there are people who attend the event. Though the following could be used to describe it….

Hippie lovefest
Artist’s haven
Raver’s paradise

The official line: Burning Man is an annual experiment in temporary community dedicated to radical self-expression and radical self-reliance.
The best description I have ever heard: It’s like living in a Salvador Dali painting.

Here are two links to help wrap your mind around it…
http://www.burningman.com/whatisburningman/
http://www.burningman.com/whatisburningman/about_burningman/experience.html

This year may have been my 4th burn.. but it was my first year volunteering.
I worked for the ESD (Emergency Services Department) providing medical care to the citizens of Black Rock City. (The temporary city that springs up around the man.) I worked on a Quick Response Vehicle, a golf cart on steroids, on Friday and Sunday. I ran about the city picking up patients and dropping them off at the central medical tent, or fixing them up and sending them on their way. So in some respects it was much like working on the ambulance, but the patients were much more pleasant.

On Saturday I worked on a Medical RIT (Rapid Intervention Team) within the proximity of the burn. It was awesome. I was stationed between the crowd sitting at the 200 foot barrier and the fire crews who were at about 100 feet. After the man fell the crowd rushed in, as is customary, and the fire crews fell back to within just a few feet of the now crumpled burning heap of wood that was the man. We stayed in radio contact with the Incident Commander in case any participants or fire crews became injured. Luckily it all went quite smoothly. WE then all piled into vehicles and went off to the burning of “Crude Awakening” an art piece resembling an Oil Rig. As is the tradition, it too must burn. And boy did it.





This piece had a 700 foot spectator perimeter, but I was probably about 500 feet out. The initial blast was so big and hot, it felt as if the hair on my arms was burning. It wasn’t until I spoke with others further away that I found out it actually created a mushroom cloud. Luckily this burn also went off without any injuries.

In all the volunteering part went very well and I had some interesting patients, but nothing too drastic. The weekend also gave Bryce and I a chance to reconnect, as our busy lives hadn’t allowed us much time to hang out in recent times.

It was a really great experience and I’m certain to do it next year. Maybe I’ll create and art car some day..



I’ll leave you with a few more images..