Authorities are investigating a fatal accident that occurred on the opening day of the infamous Burning Man festival in the northern Nevada desert.
The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office said emergency crews responded to a call about noon Sunday about an unconscious woman in Black Rock City, a temporary town set up for the festival about 100 miles north of Reno.
Emergency services personnel from the Burning Man Project attempted life-saving measures on the woman but were unsuccessful.
“The Burning Man Project is deeply sorry to announce the death of a participant in Black Rock City in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, and our heartfelt condolences go out to the family and friends who suffer this loss,” festival organizers said in a statement, adding that they are “fully cooperating with local authorities as they investigate this incident.”
An aerial view of the annual Burning Man festival. (Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies, via The Associated Press)
Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen said the investigation into Sunday’s death will continue until the cause and circumstances are determined and that he will update depending on the results of an autopsy.
Allen said the woman’s name and age would not be released until next of kin have been notified, but festival organizers identified the woman as 39-year-old Kendra Fraser.
The festival, which combines wilderness camping with a week-long arts celebration, kicked off early Sunday after rain and muddy conditions kept the gates closed for 12 hours.
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An estimated 20,000 people had already gathered on the playa before the gates officially opened to all ticket holders.
Known for its colorful theme camps, towering sculptures, drum circles, art cars and avant-garde theater, the event has grown from about 4,000 participants in 1995 to 50,000 in 2010, and is now Nevada’s third-largest city, behind the larger cities of Las Vegas and Reno.
BLACK ROCK DESERT, USA: Dancers at the Burning Man festival were about to set fire to a five-storey-tall, neon-lit effigy of a man ablaze in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada on September 6, the final night of the week-long festival. (Mike Nelson //AFP via Getty Images)
In 2023, an estimated 73,000 people attended the 35th Burning Man festival, with an additional 95,000 attending regional events around the world.
(Cindy Crawford/Instagram)
There have been about six reported deaths at the festival since it moved from San Francisco’s Baker Beach to Nevada’s Black Rock Desert in 1990. Last year, a 32-year-old California man was found unconscious at the festival and died of a suspected drug overdose.
Previous recorded fatalities at Burning Man include a woman being hit by a bus in 2014 and a attendee being crushed under a trailer in 2007. In 1996, a friend of Burning Man co-founder Larry Harvey was killed in a motorcycle crash with a van during a nighttime ride.
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Burning Man runs until September 2. Organizers expect more than 70,000 people to attend this year’s event.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
