Police are investigating after a woman was found unresponsive during the first weekend of this year’s Burning Man festival in the Nevadan desert.
The Reno Gazette Journal reported that the woman, whose name and age have not been revealed, was found unresponsive on Sunday at 11:29 a.m. While the festival’s emergency services personnel attempted life-saving measures on the woman, they were unable to revive her. According to the publication, the Sheriff’s Office will continue to investigate to determine the woman’s cause of death following an autopsy.
“This is the first reported death on the playa this year and unfortunately it has happened on day one,” Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen told the publication.
Burning Man released a statement on Sunday, confirming the death and noting that the participant had been identified by the Sheriff’s Office.
“The safety and well-being of our staff and community are paramount,” the festival said. “We are cooperating fully with local authorities as they investigate this incident. The Pershing County Sheriff’s office investigates all deaths that occur in its jurisdiction. Out of respect for the privacy of the grieving family, we will not be providing further details at this time.”
The festival noted that this news “will be difficult for many in our community” and anyone in Black Rock City that needs addition support can reach out to Black Rock Rangers to provide peer support services 24/7 at Ranger HQ or Black Rock City’s Emergency Services Department’s Crisis Support team located at the ESD stations.
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This year’s event kicked-off on August 25 and is set to run through September 2. The festival allocated 73,000 tickets, though since its initial sale in April, there are still tickets up-for-grabs. In order to sell the remainder of this year’s tickets, Burning Man has opened up tickets to non-registered buyers for the first time ever. Tickets were available as a part of the newly-announced “OMG Sale,” where 3,000 buyers had the ability to purchase up to four last-minute tickets.
Burning Man is not a traditional festival — it is dubbed an expression-based event with pop-up performances and villages. It’s also not an event for anyone who is not keen to surprise weather or road conditions; temperatures in the desert can spike up to over 100 degrees and there are regularly abrasive dust storms.
