Cleanup Begins at Burning Man Site: a Few Abandoned Cars, Plus a Burned-Out RV (rgj.com) 10
Late Friday a Burning Man press release claimed that "zero stuck or abandoned vehicles remain on site or on the exit road, as people have returned with friends and tow trucks to retrieve them."
But the Reno Gazette-Journal reports that as of 5 p.m. Friday, "at least a half-dozen vehicles were still scattered across miles of the Black Rock National Conservation Area, public land Burning Man leases from the Bureau of Land Management. Their drivers appeared to have made a run for the exit and got stuck in mud out on the playa. One burned-out RV that caught fire in the exit queue was still on site."
The press release from the Burning Man project claimed their entire community of attendees, sometimes called "Black Rock City," had now "disappeared, leaving no trace." But the Reno Gazette-Journal says... Entire abandoned camps were still in what had been Black Rock City, the temporary encampment that draws more than 70,000 burners each year. Tents, garbage bags, rugs, boxes, boots stuck in mud, a barbecue grill, cans of oil and even a wig were seen on Friday. Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen estimated there were still up to 10,000 people on site Thursday but a steady stream of RVS and cars continued to leave the playa... Burning Man did not return request for comment... "I am concerned about this year and the amount of stuff being left out," Allen told the Reno Gazette-Journal on Friday. "Dispatch has told me that in the last two days a lot of (car and truck) rental agencies and motor home businesses are looking for their vehicles still out there...
On Friday, the site was busy with campers who were cleaning up sites. Some abandoned camps sites had signs that said they would return. One sign said, "We will come back Thur. Fri. Sat. to clean up. Too many sick people."
The newspaper points out that event volunteers traditionally spend three weeks after the event doing a major clean-up effort. "The restoration crews they have doing that do an outstanding job," a public affairs specialist for the Bureau of Land Management told the newspaper.
But the Reno Gazette-Journal reports that as of 5 p.m. Friday, "at least a half-dozen vehicles were still scattered across miles of the Black Rock National Conservation Area, public land Burning Man leases from the Bureau of Land Management. Their drivers appeared to have made a run for the exit and got stuck in mud out on the playa. One burned-out RV that caught fire in the exit queue was still on site."
The press release from the Burning Man project claimed their entire community of attendees, sometimes called "Black Rock City," had now "disappeared, leaving no trace." But the Reno Gazette-Journal says... Entire abandoned camps were still in what had been Black Rock City, the temporary encampment that draws more than 70,000 burners each year. Tents, garbage bags, rugs, boxes, boots stuck in mud, a barbecue grill, cans of oil and even a wig were seen on Friday. Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen estimated there were still up to 10,000 people on site Thursday but a steady stream of RVS and cars continued to leave the playa... Burning Man did not return request for comment... "I am concerned about this year and the amount of stuff being left out," Allen told the Reno Gazette-Journal on Friday. "Dispatch has told me that in the last two days a lot of (car and truck) rental agencies and motor home businesses are looking for their vehicles still out there...
On Friday, the site was busy with campers who were cleaning up sites. Some abandoned camps sites had signs that said they would return. One sign said, "We will come back Thur. Fri. Sat. to clean up. Too many sick people."
The newspaper points out that event volunteers traditionally spend three weeks after the event doing a major clean-up effort. "The restoration crews they have doing that do an outstanding job," a public affairs specialist for the Bureau of Land Management told the newspaper.
Ignore the article (Score:5, Informative)
None of this is a problem for burning man management.
Firstly, cleanup from the event typically takes weeks of volunteer work: people go out and scrupulously check the area for moop and burn marks, digging up and carrying away as needed.
Secondly, although there were a lot of problems at BM this year none of them were from management. Management runs through various scenarios ahead of time and has detailed plans on what to do. I know this first hand from seeing how things are run "behind the curtain" at several of the events, and the people there are surprisingly top notch. (Rain on the last day? You're stuck on the playa for two more days and this will screw with your schedule. Sucks to be you, but it happens.)
Thirdly, a couple of cars and a burned-out camper is basically nothing to them. I suspect they'll excavate the cars and tow them out to the BM staging area and contact the owners. There are *lots* of maintenance vehicles (skip loaders, cranes, and such) onsite that could do that in a heartbeat.
Having participated in cleanup, I know from firsthand experience that there are several hundred bikes left after the event. How many bikes does it take to equal the junk mass of a car? Or a forgotten steel burn pit and cords of burnt logs and embers?
The article is just click-bait tending to outrage.
Ignore it.
Re: Ignore the article (Score:1)
If I had moderator points, I would +1 you. Everything you said here is correct. The article is trying to stir stuff up where there is nothing to stir.
Re: (Score:2)
I have to agree with you. The last time I read about something similar to this was the Fyre Festival, and before that, it was the mess left by the pipeline protestors.
The latter two were far worse. The pipeline protest mess was actually a bad move on their part, because it threatened to contaminate and pollute the very waterways they were advocating to protect.
At least here you have professional/volunteer clean up crews that will do what's necessary. I mean, consider that people are considerate enough to
Re: (Score:2)
Precisely. I lead a camp there. We stayed an extra half-day so our vehicles could roll, did our extensive "MOOP" sweep to ensure we left *no* trash on our site (or part of the road in front of us), and got in line to exit.
We saw a *few* abandoned vehicles while exiting (people who drove in mud and/or not on the Gate road when they were told to stay). A few vehicles out of 40,000 vehicles on site during the event is a nothing-burger.
I'm sure there will be more trash than usual this year for Restoration crews
Noone Cares (Score:2)
Only people who go to Burning Man care about Burning Man.
And many of those pulled out a few weeks prior due to poor behavior on the Festival's part and fears of bad Karma.
And apparently...
There's people who care... (Score:2)
There were apparently people who cared enough to block the highway to burning man this year as a form of climate protest, only to have the local rangers ram it out of the way.
Never seen somebody get themselves unhandcuffed so fast when the truck locked to be coming around for another pass.
Re: (Score:2)
That was among the funniest videos I've seen in a whole. Give that ranger a medal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Re: (Score:2)
I wonder what those morons were thinking. Did they think people in the blocked traffic (while burning gas sitting idle) would say "wow! Thanks for the inconvenience let's stop buring fossil fuels." And btw they even blocked an emergency vehicle.
Re: (Score:2)
I think we're supposed to be worried about the dry lake bed for some reason.
slow news month? (Score:2)
Nearly every burn something unusual happens. This time it was rain. Lots of COVID too, but that's not unusual now. It was actually much better than people expected; for example, normally every tow truck company in the world refuses to come to Burning Man, but there were many this year, and many people pulling others out of the mud. Even though the only people that got stuck in the mud were the morons who tried to leave when they were told not to.
Overall, the only seriously bad thing that happened at the bur