NEWS
'07 BMAN ARSONIST TO BE ARRAIGNED IN PERSHING COUNTY
(posted 9/25/07)
On August 28, 2007, at approximately 2:58 AM, an arsonist set fire to the Burning Man figure in Black Rock City, Nevada, during the height of full lunar eclipse. The figure was extinguished, but not before it sustained significant damage, and it was deemed unsafe to keep it in place for the remainder of the event. The Burning Man event continued, and the figure was rebuilt in 3 days, to be burned again -- at the appointed hour -- on Saturday night, surrounded by Black Rock City's more than 47,000 participants who had come to witness its immolation.
One man was arrested in conjunction with the unscheduled burning, Paul Addis, 35, of San Francisco, California. Addis was booked into the Pershing County, Nevada 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 and was released.
Addis' arraignment on these charges was scheduled for September 25, 2007, at the Pershing County courthouse. Burning Man has and will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities in this investigation in pursuit of justice for the perpetrator(s) of this act.
In the meantime, we are grateful to the entire community, including the hardworking Burning Man staff and volunteers, for their support and participation during the unscheduled fire and destruction, its aftermath, and later, the eventual rebuilding of our event's namesake figure. Having weathered this unexpected experience together, the final sentence of our mission statement rings truer than ever in the afterglow of Burning Man 2007:
"We will always burn the Man." 
