A woman died at Burning Man early Thursday morning after falling under a bus carrying attendees of the weeklong gathering in northern Nevada's Black Rock Desert, authorities said.
The Pershing County Sheriff's Department in Nevada confirmed the death, referring all other questions to Burning Man's promoter, who said the 29-year-old woman from Wyoming died just after midnight near the Central Camp Area.
Event organizers said Alicia Louise Cipicchio was killed afterapparently falling underneath a "large vehicle" at the festival.
The last time a person died at Burning Man was seven years ago when a woman died when she fell under a trailer being pulled by a bus, promoter Jim Graham said.
"This is a terrible accident," Burning Man co-founder Marian Goodell said on the blog. "Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends and campmates. Black Rock Rangers and Emergency Services Department staff are providing support to those affected."
Josh Keppel
Paola Turbay, from LA and Columbia, strikes the Truth is Beauty pose while wearing a head covering "made by the Indians in Columbia," she said.
Josh Keppel
Joe the Builder (right) updates Larry Harvey (left) as to the progress of the Man Base build. Crews were delayed three days due to a severe thunderstorm and subsequent mud pit. The Man should be open to citizens of Black Rock City Monday night, just one day behind schedule.
Josh Keppel
(Left to right) Gretchen Schwilk from Boston, MA, Sarah Foy from Toronto, Canada, and Mark Bjornson from Truckee, CA wait in line at the Department of Mutant Vehicles to get registered to drive their bamboo covered art car, Suck, a giant vacuum, around Burning Man.
Josh Keppel
"Sparkle Artist" Mad-Dog Madigan has been creating those amazing entry signs for Burning Man for years. This year, many of the theme camps have also enlisted his artistic skills. "You are not a 'real' camp unless I did your sign," said Mad-Dog about the top tier sound camps.
Josh Keppel
Duane Flatmo, from Eureka, CA, got a new vehicle for El Pulpo Mecanico and added a bunch of new recycled aluminum sculptures, creating a lobster in front and a fish in back with the old seahorse hood ornament now riding in the back.
Josh Keppel
Flatmo’s El Pulpo partner Jerry Kunkel shows off the final improvement on the new machine, a gifted red bungee cord, as they head out towards the DMV.
Josh Keppel
Alex Vaughn of San Francisco swims across the playa completely unaware of the shark about to attack.
Josh Keppel
BMIR radio DJ Douglas Wolk has been going to Burning Man for 15 years, and working at the radio station for 10. In the “default world,” he writes music reviews for Time Magazine, the New York Times and Rolling Stone. On the radio he hands out sage advice like, “You don’t have to get crazy every night!”
Josh Keppel
Joshua Cunningham, aka Kanizzle (right), stormed the microphone early Monday morning as BRC Weekly Editor Adrian Roberts and Mysterious D (just out of frame to left) were interviewed during the 4 a.m. hour Monday morning as people had a three+ hour wait to get into the city.
Josh Keppel
RobbiDobbs became the “Chief Poopervisor of the Potty Project” in 2001 with the Department of Public Works. In 2000, Burning Man was told that “if we didn't make a serious effort to keep trash out of the porta potties, vendor Johnny on the Spot wouldn't keep clearing the waste for the party." RobbiDobbs drives around in the Poopmobile talking into the P.A. her message of, “No baby wipes, No flush-able wipes and No hovering!”
Josh Keppel
Gonzo Frothwood, (with hat) from Sonora, CA, writes the majority of the 250+ “Pooetry” messages that are taped to all 1200 porta potties, inside and out, that with creative prose, encourage people to be good neighbors when it comes to the porta potties. Helping in the three-day process of hanging signs was Dave Jones (right) from Boise, ID, and Derek Jones (left) from Moscow, ID.
Josh Keppel
Aaron “SFSlim” Muszalski posted a photo of Bureau of Land Management officers citing fellow D.P.W. workers pre-event. Since then, his photo has gone viral and sparked debate, conjecture and talks of a class action lawsuit against the B.L.M. by citizens of Black Rock City.
Josh Keppel
Heavy police presence pre-event has some scratching their heads. In previous years, four B.L.M. officers were at the event before it opened. This year, there was going to be 20.
Josh Keppel
For the first time, Pershing County Sheriffs worked hand-in-hand and rode side-by-side with the Bureau of Land Management officers as they patrol the city.
Josh Keppel
Robin Russell, of San Francisco, was offered a free ticket at the last minute if she could drive someone from Black Rock City back to the Bay Area. She got to B.R.C. late Friday night before the event started and left Sunday night. She will work at her job as a nurse through the week, then head back out for fun on Friday of Labor Day weekend.
Josh Keppel
William Korthof, of LA, wiped the playa off one of his 80-panel solar arrays at Black Rock City. Dust can be swept daily, but when rain comes, it has to be wiped off. Korthof is supplying power to about 250 people in Nectar Village with this array, as well as the C.O.R.E. projects with another array and a third at Peter Hudson's zoetropes.
Josh Keppel
More and more people are going solar at Black Rock City. Christian Yuhas (my cousin) bought a new energy efficient refrigerator for camp that runs off of one solar panel (so far).
Josh Keppel
Scott Shane, of North Lake Tahoe, NV, stands on his Skibaru, a mutant vehicle made up to be a ski lodge on top of a hidden 1993 Subaru Loyale Wagon.
Josh Keppel
Lisa Caparra, of San Carlos, rode through the sprinkling of rain drops Sunday afternoon with her sock monkey covered bike.
Josh Keppel
Andrej Kucher, of New York City, NY, is the Lead Mechanic for the Yellow Bike Project, which allows burners without bikes to use these from point A to point B. Kucher is also the lead mechanic for the CitiBike program in NYC. Each year, people (about 65 in 2013) ride repaired yellow bikes from the Burning Man Ranch to Black Rock City, about 12 miles, in what is known as the Baloney Hole Blitz. When they arrive around 6 p.m. Sunday, they start handing out the bikes to the citizens of B.R.C.
Josh Keppel
Céline Belle, of Portland, OR, helped with the Portland C.O.R.E. Treehouse Project called, "Ludum et Refugium." The project is between a piece from Israel and another from France, delighting Belle who's Father's family is Jewish with many live in Israel, and her Mother is French with many family living there.
Josh Keppel
Damon LaRose, from San Jose, is the Emergency Services Communications Supervisor, making sure all of the emergency vehicles are able to communicate with one another while making sure the citizens of Black Rock City are safe.
Josh Keppel
Jason Gabl, from West Lafayette, IN, holds a computer that is connected to that giant gold cylinder. When activated, a flaming smoke ring shoots out of the top, thanks to the work of this Aero/Astro Engineering student from Purdue University.
Josh Keppel
Buddies Pilar Starr Woodman (left) and Nicole Bloss embrace for a playa hug and hello.
Josh Keppel
A happy group from San Jose pose in front of their brand new Nudibranch mutant vehicle after passing D.M.V. checks.
Josh Keppel
"#7" stands in front of his art car called, "The Monkey," making it's fourth appearance at Burning Man. When talking about the heightened police presence, #7 said, "Last year was bad, this year is worse. I hope it's not the death of the event."
Josh Keppel
BAAAHS (Big Ass Amazingly Awesome Homosexual Sheep) is a new art car that is from San Francisco and has a slide from the top deck to the bottom of the converted school bus. Christian Williams (left) and Joey Matiz were excited to get their D.M.V. tags so they could hit the open playa.
Josh Keppel
Kurt Larson, of San Francisco, took a spin around the playa with some "Monster Tractor Truck Skates," noting that the playa is so well packed this year it makes for an easy skate. At B.R.C., Larson is the Thunder Dome Officiant, in the default world he is the lead singer of Information Society, and as such has to leave Burning Man early this year for a show in LA with Howard Jones, Andy Bell and Men Without Hats.
Josh Keppel
A few of the fine folks from the Mission Country Club, a San Franciscan theme camp, waiting in line at the D.M.V. Sunday evening.
Josh Keppel
Professional photographer Karen Kuehn has been covering Burning Man for the last few years, producing incredible books with images and words from the movers and shakers of the event. At sunrise Monday morning, Kuehn invited a few of her photographer friends for a shoot-off, which she documented for her new book.
Josh Keppel
Here, Cowboy Scott London (left, who's Burning Man photos are regularly featured in publications like Rolling Stone) shoots next to George Post, dressed as a sheik, complete with sword, and camera. Post has attended every Burning Man since 1991 and has recently finished a 216-page book chronicling the event called, "Dancing with the Playa Messiah."
Josh Keppel
John Curley, from Pacifica, shows up to the Black Rock Desert long before it is a city, and he does an exceptional job of chronicling the event for the Burning Blog, with special attention paid to the efforts of the Department of Public Works.
Josh Keppel
The most well known, and seen person out there, The Man. This year, the Man rotated once every 40 seconds or so, as he floated above a giant space ship.
Josh Keppel
Paola Turbay, from LA and Columbia, strikes the Truth is Beauty pose while wearing a head covering "made by the Indians in Columbia," she said.
Josh Keppel
Zoetrope artist Peter Hudson strikes a pose of his own before addressing the media on an art tour lead by Media Mecca Volunteer and "Goddess of the Playa" (as one person described her), Katie Eldridge.
Josh Keppel
"We're all really blown away by the reception. To see it together is amazing," said Church Trap artist Scott Froschauer (left), with Jena Priebe (center) and Rebecca Waites (right), all from LA..
Josh Keppel
Artist Marco Cochrane, from Mill Valley, stands in front of his 55-foot metal sculpture called Truth is Beauty.
Josh Keppel
Deja Solis, from Nevada City, CA, was the model for Truth is Beauty and Bliss Dance, Burning Man 2010's belle of the ball.
Josh Keppel
"Probably the most low-tech piece on the playa, we have that claim to fame" said "Wanda" Jeanette Mustacich from Santa Barbara, CA who went out to her piece each day to dust the playa off of it. "Dusting makes the colors more vibrant."
Josh Keppel
Darryl "Uncle D" Bridges, from Ukiah, CA, stands in front of his Abraxas Dragon art car, flanked by Kiana Good from Berkeley, CA on the left, and Angela Miller from Willits, CA, part of the Abraxas crew, easily the most entertaining mutant vehicle support crew in Black Rock City.
Josh Keppel
Artist and photographer Mike Garlington has worked for the Department of Public Works at Burning Man for years, and many of the images he used in the Photochapel were portraits he'd done of his burner co-workers.
Josh Keppel
Randi Sether, from Philadelphia, PA, holds Packy the Rat, mascot of the Gold Bikini Happy Hour at Bubbles and Bass.
Josh Keppel
Kiki Stockhammer and Karl Vance Miller, from Sacramento, CA, soak in the glow of the fire conclave before the Man burn Saturday night.
Josh Keppel
Department of Public Works woker Austin Staunch, from San Francisco waits for the Man to burn. At 9 p.m. on Saturday of Labor Day weekend, the Man's arms are raised, and about 30 minutes later, he is burned.
Josh Keppel
Rob Novotny, of San Francisco, CA, enjoys a moment under Truth is Beauty.
Josh Keppel
Jessica Woirhaye, from Fairbanks, Alaska, holds Gonzo, an eight-year-old desert fox while Pete Inglis, from Denver, looks on.
Josh Keppel
Dave Decibel, of Rio Rancho, NM, has been a BMIR DJ since 2010.
Josh Keppel
Amy Berger, of San Francisco, CA, gets ready to slide down one of the three slides that were at the base of the Man.
Josh Keppel
Chico Danger (left), and an unnamed associate get ready for the night at their camp "The City on the Edge of Forever."
Josh Keppel
Crew aboard the SS Malibu post airport run.
Josh Keppel
Dan Risacher, from Alrington, VA with eight-year-old son Luke, hang out under Catmandu.
Josh Keppel
Rick Hargett, of San Francisco, and Nicole Davida Zara Atencio-Olewiler, of NYC, walking across the playa after a friends wedding at the Temple. The pair were "all smiles because it had been nearly two years since we had seen each other," said Hargett. "Nicole had just happened to walk by my camp a couple of hours earlier [on her first day ever at Burning Man], saw me, and a day of playa adventures for the reunited friends began."
Josh Keppel
Abraxis crew members chase after their giant dragon art car.
Josh Keppel
The Abraxis crew poses under Mike Garlington's Photochapel.
Josh Keppel
This giant duck art car was first brought to Black Rock City in 2008. This return trip to Burning Man was the "maiden voyage of a world tour," according to the duck's handlers David Shields of LA and Alan Davis from Vegas, pictured here talking with Media Mecca volunteer Katie Eldridge.
Josh Keppel
Spires Construction Manager Alexi Boshart, from Los Angeles, waves from a passing lift.
Josh Keppel
Minnesota C.O.R.E. Fire Arts Safety Lead Kellie Larson drops some wood in their "The Year the Playa Stood Still" sculpture.
Josh Keppel
Photographers DJ Pierce (left), from NYC, and Karen Kuehn, from Peralta, NM, strategize for the Man burn.
Josh Keppel
Brian Schrier from Sausalito, CA jumps on a trampoline in his homemade "Skeeter" outfit.
Josh Keppel
(Left to right) Shannon Gaines, Emily Abrahams and Eric Reid on stage at the Sex Bombe Kabaret at Dustfish.
Josh Keppel
Gold Bikini Happy Hour crew
Josh Keppel
Former Burning Man Art Curator Lady Bee, now the Archivist and Art Collection Mananger, watches the C.O.R.E. burn with Gary Van Wyk, a Black Rock City virgin burner from AfrikaBurn in South Africa.
Josh Keppel
Gus Beck, from Homer, Alaska, watches as the Man burns after doing his Fire Conclave Field Crew duties.
Josh Keppel
"Lithuania, Czech Republic, South Africa... [Burning Man] is crossing boundaries as it should and it just confirms what we are doing here," said $teven Ra$pa about the increased diversity and internationalization of Black Rock City. Artists from 30 different countries contributed to the art of Black Rock City in 2013.
Josh Keppel
Helen Hickman and Ben Stoelting of San Francisco soak in the loving glow of the Man fire
Josh Keppel
"Kim Jong Ilo" Kratins of Berkeley, CA is the Principle builder of the Man. "If you were inside the Man and looked at every detail you would see that each edge is routed and sanded," said Kratins. "Making it is our privilege. Making it awesome is how we honor that privilege."
Josh Keppel
Marco Cochrane's wife Julia Whitelaw spoke to a gathered crowd at the feet of Truth is Beauty about their shared goal of making the world a safer place for women.
Josh Keppel
A grilled cheese sandwich couldn't taste any better than it does as an unexpected gift late at night.
Josh Keppel
Dungeon Master Karl Vance Miller poses with a giant set of horns (courtesy the Abraxis art car) "for my minions and victims."
Josh Keppel
Amanda Joy Ravenhill donned her ironic "Snarkle Pony" outfit to the delight of many.
Josh Keppel
Each year, world famous DJs flock to Black Rock City for sets at sound camps and art cars. This year, Paul Oakenfold played a few nights at White Ocean, including this early morning set in the first few hours of his 50th birthday.
Josh Keppel
Craig "my take on a Scottish guard" Olsen danced with others in front of the DJ booth while Oakenfold played.
Josh Keppel
"Yabba Dabba Doo!," said Martha Graeff, a Brazilian living in Miami, FL, about her "Fred Flintstones Car," as she called it.
Josh Keppel
Maria Marian, from Seattle, WA, at her seventh trip to Black Rock City.
Josh Keppel
Sunrise, the best time of day, was a little different in 2013, as the actual sunrise came when the sun eventually passed through the thick smoke on the horizon from the Rim Fire in Yosemite.
Josh Keppel
Sharoni Rotberg (left), from NYC, dances with Martha Graeff in the dawn sunlight.
Josh Keppel
Sleeping is something most don't get to do a lot of at Burning Man. The few hours of shut eye you get in a day are made even better if you find just the right spot for your slumber. Or, you can ask your friend to fake it for a photo opp in front of Hugh Patterson's Quick Fix from British Columbia.
Josh Keppel
San Francisco artist Katy Boynton, who worked on Marco Cochrane's Truth is Beauty behind her, as well as Bliss Dance in 2010, brought her own sculpture Heartfullness in 2012 and added fire to it in 2013.
Josh Keppel
Fire Arts safety volunteer and artist Jeff Schomberg rolling by in his pink, flying, and sometimes flaming, pig roof mobile.
Christian Yuhas
BRC Weekly Editor Adrian Roberts (center) with BRC Weekly contributors Steve Courtney (right) and Josh Keppel.
Josh Keppel
Janine Anika (left) and Regan Watson are Americans who are friends in Barcelona, where they've each lived for over ten years. The pair has only ever seen each other on American soil at the Black Rock Desert. They both participate in Nowhere, the Burning Man regional that Europeans go to each summer in Spain. The 2014 Nowhere is July 8-13.
Josh Keppel
When I asked Katay Budnik, from Moscow, Russia, if she had been to Burning Man before, in a thick Russian accent she said, "This is my virgin."
Josh Keppel
Emma (left), from Venice, CA, held a vessel full of raffle tickets awarded to four lucky winners each night at Ashram Galactica, a theme camp that puts on a live show after giving away deluxe accommodations to lucky winners. This year, the theme of the show was Burning Man in the future, with pleas to "Save the Man."
Josh Keppel
The lit lampshade remains my favorite nighttime head-wear.
Josh Keppel
(Right to left) Linda OHara and Natasha Sheveleva, of San Francisco, and former roommate and friend Camile Gaffiot, of Paris, France, posed for a photo in front of the DangTangGangFangSang art car.
Josh Keppel
Last year a tornado of controversy swirled after a beautiful photo taken at Burning Man surfaced showing a woman wearing feathered (which isn't supposed to be allowed at Burning Man) wings. This year, it seemed like the feathered Mohawk was the most popular head covering, with no one seeming to have a problem with it. What a difference a year makes.
Josh Keppel
El Pulpo Mecanico creator Duane Flatmo, of Eureka, CA, presses his hand down on the buttons to ignite his tentacle fire canons, while siting next to the miniature El Pulpo sculpture he made one winter in Mexico as inspiration for one of Burning Man's most popular art cars.
Josh Keppel
Ana Crnilovic (left), from Boston, MA, and Eileen Egilson, from Vancouver, Canada, have a shared playa name of Wamy.
Josh Keppel
Natasha Ray, of Ventura, CA, strikes a pose from the back of El Pulpo Mecanico.
Josh Keppel
Robot Heart was bumping for seven straight nights, and on Monday morning after the Temple Burn, they were one of the last parties on the playa.
Josh Keppel
NYC based photographer and creative director DJ Pierce strikes a pose in the half-hour between the Man's arms going up and the start of the fireworks show that ends with his burning.
DJ Pierce
In 2012, photographer DJ Pierce was with Mark Roemer, of LA, and Jana Derges, of Edmonton, Canada, the night they met at Burning Man.
DJ Pierce
Mark Roemer planed a flight in 2013 for he and Jana Derges to go up above Black Rock City and "look for a sacred geometrical shape made up of bodies and yoga mats."
DJ Pierce
Photographer and friend DJ Pierce joined them to take pictures of the flight. Here's a great shot of Black Rock City 2013, with the extra roads going from L to N on the outer edge.
Leopold Fialla
The "sacred geometrical shapes" were actually about 50 of Mark and Jana's friends spelling out "JANA?" near the Temple.
Leopold Fialla
The "sacred geometrical shapes" were actually about 50 of Mark and Jana's friends spelling out "JANA?" near the Temple.
DJ Pierce
Up in the air, Mark Roemer pulled out "a puzzle box made out wood from the temple" with an engagement ring inside. Both Roemer and Jana Derges were at Black Rock City weeks before the event started to help build the Temple, honoring lost loved ones in the process.
DJ Pierce
"She Said Yes" was the title of a slideshow Roemer posted on his facebook with DJ Pierce's photos (used here with credit and permission from both).
DJ Pierce
Burning Man engagements and marriages are nothing new. Many couples have met there, and later get engaged or married in Black Rock City, sometimes bringing a wedding party of virgins out to the desert for their first time.
DJ Pierce
New couples who meet at Burning Man often live in other cities, or in other countries, as is the case with Mark Roemer in LA and Jana Derges in Alberta, Canada. It does make things a little harder, but once love finds you and makes you feel like this, it doesn't matter where you live, as long as you can do it together.
Josh Keppel
Jim Pettigrew, of Mill Valley, CA, took one final sail Monday after the majority of the population had left the city. Pettigrew said about "250 Burners took advantage of our fleet - probably our most active year since we wore out a few sets of tires."
According to her Facebook page, Cipicchio worked at a Jackson Hole art gallery and previously studied art at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
At its peak, Burning Man had 68,000 "Burners" attend this year, Graham said.
The festival describes itself as a gathering of those who "dedicate themselves to the spirit of community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance."
