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The Man Burns Early |
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Burning Man 2007: The Man Burns Early 28 September 2007 Another day has passed, and it's almost 02:00. I'm doing a LEAL (Law Enforcement and Agency Liason) shift with Ranger Tulsa. We're at the Center Camp Café getting some hot refreshment before we head to the front gate to assist with some challenging arrivals. We expect the high point of our graveyard shift to be the full eclipse of the moon, which'll peak at around 04:00 or so. What a night to be awake and moving around the playa.  "The Man is burning."Neither Tulsa nor I move a muscle. It's the crazy hours in the Ranger infrastructure, and radio silliness is par for the course. A moment later the radio crackles again. "Hey, I'm not kidding. The Man is burning. He's on fire."That seems like more than the usual pranking. After all, we know each others' voices. Tulsa and I turn around, and sure enough. the head of the Man is adorned in a wreath of flickering flames. In the span of three or four seconds we bid our apologies, dive into Tulsa's truck, and fly across the deserted entrance road towards the center of the city. The washboard consistency of the road bounces us up and down hard. I'm thinking did we finish our drinks? If not, they're all over the floor somewhere. (We did.) We enter the city on the 6 o'clock road and the radio crackles again. "Tulsa, Mickey: can you swing by and get [Ranger Director] SeaDog on your way in?"SeaDog, a former naval commander and our boss of bosses has his RV only a few feet from our location, so we're banging on his door moments later. Disoriented, he swings out the screen door; his pager's batteries finally died. He has no idea what's going on. Things grabbed, he orders us to head directly to the Man. By that time we've already heard Rangers chase and apprehend the arsonist. (Do you know how hard it is to transmit a coherent message when you're running pell-mell after someone? Ranger Trapper's in-car voices is much clearer, as he announces the capture. It's been only minutes. Without any coordination, Rangers and participants work on clearin everyone away from the structure, make a perimeter and two access roads, guide firefighters and medical into the center. There's no communication, nor miscommunication. It all just works. Training, common sense, cooperation. A few hours later, at 04:30 or so, the crowds are all gone, and a few of us maintain the perimeter. We're not sure how safe and stable the structure is after the scorching.     
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