Performance Safety Team

Fire? We got your fire right here…

18 significant art burnsWow we burned a lot of art this year!

  • 34 C.O.R.E projects
  • Over 30 projects utilizing Flame Effects
  • Throw in a half dozen amazing fireworks shows…

No other event in the world employs the element of fire as a component of artistic composition in the ways that Burning Man has over its history. While we embrace this use of fire we also strive to maintain the highest level of safety possible.

Some of the great burning projects of 2012 included:

  • Zoa by the Flux Foundation
    Burning early in the week, blazing fire burned away the façade of this project to bring forth a transformed steel piece that burned with propane flame effects for the rest of the week.
  • Burn Wall Street by Otto Von Danger
    This project was stunning in scale, logistics and planning.Built to release the frustrations with the banking and financial system, the project accomplished that in spades as it was one of the largest art burns to date in Black Rock City.
  • Anubis by Dan Fox and crew
    Stepping up their game from 2011 the same crew that brought the Trojan Horse to the playa returned with Anubis the Jackal headed god of Egypt. In conjunction with Black Rock Effects, this project brought Friday night a stunning and artistic burn complete with a choreographed display reflecting the canine spirit of this god of the afterlife.
  • The Car-B-Que at Gigsville
    While not playa art the Car-B-Que is a delight to stumble upon on a colder evening, and a long time fixture of Gigsville.For the second year we worked with Gigsville to make sure this blazing centerpiece of community has a pad of Decomposed Granite so as it burned, the playa surface would be protected from heat damage.
  • Burning ideas for 2013?
  • Circle of Regional Effigies (CORE)
    The Burning Man Regional Network is growing by leaps and bounds. It was an incredible logistical challenge, but this year we brought 34 individual pieces to the Circle Of Regional Effigies. While most other festivals would be glad to burn a single effigy we need more than that to support a group as large and diverse as the Regional Network.

Clearly the need to safely burn all of the fantastic art that comes from the Burning Man community will continue to be a top priority again for 2013.

The two big challenges we will continue to concentrate on will be playa protection and consistency in safety perimeters. To address the issue of sufficient FAST  coverage for all the things for which we’re responsible, we will be adding new staff and creating specialized teams. This will allow the Fire Art Safety Team to be able to cover more projects effectively and efficiently.

The Fire Art Safety Team never stops burning!

Submitted by,
Dave X