Hippies Distraught as BurningMan Blazes Early

The Burning Man Festival in the Nevada desert ran into a snag when Paul Addis decided to get a jump start on the celebration.  He ignited the towering wooden sculpture of the Burning Man Monday after midnight.  It was supposed to spark into blaze on Saturday.  Thousands could be heard saying “Bummer, Man” all at once.

From the AP here:

Burning Man became Burnt Man four days early on Tuesday, and a San Francisco performance artist was arrested for igniting the signature figure of the counterculture festival in the remote Nevada desert.
 
The early morning fire scorched about 85 percent of the structure, Burning Man spokeswoman Andie Grace said. Event engineers decided it would be best to dismantle it and rebuild a less elaborate version, accomplishing in two days what normally takes weeks so the figure would be finished in time for Saturday night’s scheduled burning, she said.

The approximately 40-foot-tall wood and neon structure was supposed to go up in flames in the ceremonial climax of the weeklong annual event.

Many festival-goers who were awake watching Tuesday’s lunar eclipse said they saw a man deliberately ignite the figure at about 3 a.m., Grace said.

“It was in plain sight of many people,” she said. “Everyone is looking at it this morning, this big black figure in the sky and that wasn’t supposed to burn, saying, ‘Now what do we do?'”

Paul Addis, 35, of San Francisco, was booked into the Pershing County, Nev., jail on suspicion of arson, illegal possession of fireworks, destruction of property and resisting a public officer, according to the sheriff’s department. He posted a $25,632 bond, a sheriff’s dispatcher said.

How the hell can someone be accused of arson for burning something that was intended to be set ablaze?  I think its awesome that even a so-called “counter-culture” has a “counter-culture” to it.  One dude Pwn3d the whole festival.

I think every year someone should attempt to burn it early.  You get teams-  one team defends against would-be arsonists, and the other team tries to burn it down.