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Arsonist Lights Up Burning Man Early

Posted Aug 28th 2007 6:05PM by TMZ Staff

Christmas came early for revelers at the eight-day Nevada desert festival known as Burning Man, when an arsonist lit up the 40-foot "Man" on Tuesday -- it wasn't supposed to go up in flames until Saturday. Current.TV reports festivalgoers (lucid and not-so-lucid) were heard chanting, "Save the man, save the man!"


Authorities say Paul Addis is responsible for the premature torching and have charged him with arson and misdemeanor possession of fireworks. 40,000 people are expected to reach the Black Rock Desert event this weekend, and organizers say the wooden effigy will be rebuilt in time for the scheduled 9:00 PM burning on Sept. 1. Burn, baby, burn!

Now back to our regularly scheduled Thirty Mile Zone programming!

Tags: Burning Man, BurningMan

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46. I wish 40,000 people would gather to support the men & women fighting for our country...I wish 40,000 people would gather to condemn Mexico's actions against it's own peoples(which cause them to sneak into this country illegally)...guess it's a matter of priorities. I've heard the art is awesome but as for the rest of the hedonistic crap -no thanks....bunch 'o stinky hippies in the desert sun, stinkin up portapotties & leaving their trash behind.

Posted at 4:45PM on Aug 29th 2007 by wasup

47. as you said, conservative dad, everything that exists at burning man is in your own neighborhood. why go to the middle of nowhere to find it?

just call it what it is - a big party ..."the most caring honest humans EVER." ...........please

i'll go run in a charity 5k and meet extremely humble, selfless, caring HUMANS and I will also be doing something that positively affects HUMANS directly.

Posted at 5:41PM on Aug 29th 2007 by pepperz

48. Twits probably opened their big gift before Christmas every year, too.

Posted at 5:57PM on Aug 29th 2007 by HiZack

49. Sadly, most people are the supporting cast to someone else's life, but even worse are the critics.

Posted at 9:52AM on Aug 30th 2007 by rj

50. Again, there are those that condem what the do not understand or fear. That type of attitude really scares me. There is much that I do not understand, yet I do not condem it.

As for the comment about a "bunch o' stinking hippies"....that is a very small minded statement. It seems to come from ignorance.

Posted at 10:53PM on Aug 29th 2007 by Mom of a Burner

51. Long time burner...first time not there in eight years and look what happens!
a lot of comments made not from a place of light but from darkness.

One comment"bunch' of dirty hippies who leave all their trash behind", got my attention.
BM has had a strict Leace no Trace policy at its event for the last nine years. that means there are no garbage cans anywhere. In fact, Burningman has done such an excellent job of cleanup post event, that BLM now requires ALL public events on their land to adhere to the Leave NO Trace Standard.

Posted at 3:43AM on Aug 30th 2007 by salmon

52. I see nothing wrong in the guy torching the structure....after all, he is the epitome of what BM is all about...he was just radically expressing himself by going against the "control" and the "rules" of the organizers, Right? Flame on, man!

Bah...this liberal hippie crap burned out in the 70s...didn't work then, won't work now.

No tax money for art! 95% of what arteests think is art is crap.

Posted at 1:35PM on Aug 30th 2007 by PHW

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