Death investigation underway, thousands trapped: What we know about 2023 Burning Man festival’s flooding chaos

Burning Man already tests the “radical self-sufficiency” of festivalgoers - but this year’s event brought even more hurdles than they bargained for.

The start of the counter-culture festival was met with climate activists blocking the only road leading to the site in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert before being rammed by a tribal park ranger in his patrol truck – an incident that is now under investigation.

Then toward the end of the nine-day art and cultures festival, heavy rains poured down, causing flooding and a massive amount of mud.

Heavy rains, brought on by a rare hurricane on the West Coast, forced organisers and local authorities to close roads for the remainder of the festival and told anyone en route to go home.

By Saturday, more than 70,000 “Burners” at the site were urged to hunker down and conserve supplies amid mud slicks and unserviced toilets.

On Sunday, police announced an investigation into an unspecified death at the festival. The deceased was identified as 32-year-old Leon Reece - but his cause of death has not been determined.

Here’s everything we know about the Burning Man 2023 fiasco:

The festival is a “temporary metropolis dedicated to community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance,” according to its website.

People from all over are encouraged to attend where they build art, make music and form a sense of community together.

The nine-day event takes place in a temporary city within the Black Rock Desert. It ends with the torching of a 40-foot effigy of “the man” (hence Burning Man) before Labor Day.

The event has been held since 1986, when co-founders Larry Harvey and Jerry James first burned an improvised wooden figure at Baker Beach during the Summer Solstice.

In 1988, Harvey named the statue “Burning Man” and began promoting the event to people outside of his circle by handing out flyers and creating t-shirts, according to the Burning Man website.

By 1997, more than 10,000 attended the event and the number only continued growing over the years.

Burning Man did not take place during 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Climate activists protesting on the road leading into Burning Man last week were threatened by a park ranger who reportedly pointed a weapon at them and then rammed his patrol truck through their blockade.

The Pyramid Lake Paiute tribal ranger, whose name has not been released, could be seen on the videos as he exited his vehicle, drew the weapon and yelled for the protesters to get down on the ground. The incident is being investigated.

The tribal chairman, James J Phoenix, released a statement and said the ranger was using his patrol vehicle to clear “debris” out of the roadway after climate activists refused to leave.

Emily Collins, one of the activists who had chained herself to the blockade, and her partner, Tom Diacono, travelled from Italy to participate in the protest, opting to skip Burning Man after attending the festival for many years.

“The planet is burning,” Mr Diacono toldThe Associated Press. “It’s a bit absurd to continue with the festival while the planet is begging for a change.”

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) capped the festival’s attendance in 2019 at 80,000 because of concerns about excess trash being left behind and safety issues, according to NPR.

The festival also contributed 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide that same year, The Guardian reported.

More than 73,000 stranded “Burners” were told to remain at their campsites as a slow-moving rainstorm fell on the typically dry desert over the weekend.

Organisers asked attendees to preserve food, water and fuel as they were unsure when roads would be accessible. Driving and biking were temporarily suspended on the severely muddy roads.

“The Gate and airport in and out of Black Rock City remain closed. Ingress and egress are halted until further notice,” the festival’s traffic account tweeted on Saturday. “No driving is permitted except emergency vehicles. If you are in BRC, conserve food, water, and fuel, and shelter in a warm, safe space.”

President Joe Biden was made aware of the situation on Sunday and said the White House was in touch with local authorities and monitoring the situation.

Cell phone service in the area is extremely limited, USA Today reported, making it difficult for attendees to contact people outside of the desert.

Scattered rainstorms continued to sporadically occur throughout Sunday, delaying the annual burning of the man until Monday evening when the National Weather Service said they expected it to be sunny.

On social media, Burners posted videos and photos of the intense mud – depicting a grim scene. Many attendees, including some celebrities, tried to leave the festival after the mud made it difficult to get around.

Diplo, a DJ whose real name is Thomas Wesley Pentz, said in an Instagram video on Saturday that he only managed to leave the Black Rock Desert thanks to a fan who gave him and comedian Chris Rock a ride in the back of his pickup truck.

“I legit walked the side of the road for hours with my thumb out,” Mr Pentz said, adding that he had to walk six miles through the mud. “Also shoutout to this guy for making the smart purchase of a truck not knowing it was for this exact moment.”

Videos posted by attendees on TikTok showed people wearing trash bags up to their knees to walk in the mud.

“All the activities were shut down, we slept with no house music bumping, everything stopped,” TikTok user Angie Peacock said.

“They shut the water down, I’m walking around helping pull power cables out of the ground so they don’t get stuck in the mud.

Other attendees fully embraced the mud and even covered their bodies with it.

“This is the ultimate filter of beauty,” Dub Kitty told The Reno Gazette-Journal. “We’re trying to find my camp and magic along the way.”

A screenshot of a text message exchange triggered a flood of misinformation on social media regarding a supposed Ebola outbreak at Burning Man.

The conspiracies escalated when people on X, formerly Twitter, shared doctored headlines from Forbes and fake tweets from Burning Man organizers and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Experts and physicians emphasized how unlikely an Ebola outbreak would be.

In a statement to Indy100, a BLM spokesperson debunked speculation about an Ebola outbreak.

“I can confirm the event entrance was closed for the year because unusual rainfall caused muddy conditions where there was a full stop on vehicles, and not for an ebola outbreak,” the spokesperson said.

The weather conditions prevented cleaning staff from emptying thousands of portable toilets, according to The Guardian, due to the restricted driving.

Chris Rock shared a picture on Instagram of the muddy roads and a line of portable restrooms that had reportedly not been emptied.

“Also, from what I understand, because of the flooding, the port-a-potties reportedly can’t be emptied,” Mr Rock wrote. “And because the gates are closed, people can’t get in to fill generators or deliver supplies.”

While many shared their frustrations on social media, others kept a festive attitude and continued dancing and drinking. Burner Mike Jed told the Associated Press that he and others had made a bucket toilet so they didn’t have to trudge as often through the mud to reach portable toilets.

The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office confirmed a death at Burning Man to KNSD-TV on Saturday.

On Monday, officials in the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the death was that of 32-year-old Leon Reece. He was found unresponsive on the playa and his death was “unrelated to the weather.” An official cause has yet to be released.

The man’s death is currently under investigation.

The Independent has reached out to the law enforcement agency for comment.

By Monday, officials said attendees could begin leaving thanks to sunny conditions that were helping to dry up some of the mud – though they encouraged some Burners to delay their exit to help avoid massive amounts of traffic.

The long-awaited exodus combined with a weekend of hardships created tension, according to Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen.

“As usually happens, in what Burners refer to as the ‘default world’, people allow their emotions to override their reasonableness and they are lashing out at each other as they leave the playa and attempt to make it to their next destination,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle.

“This behaviour definitely does not fall within the 10 principles of Burning Man, but that is not the fault of BMP either, but is a societal issue,” he added.

The sheriff added that vehicles and property were abandoned altogether at the festival site after desperate attendees left them behind to trudge out of Burning Man on foot.