Rangers take hands-off approach to safety

The sun beat down. The ground turned up thorns. Stinging Portuguese men-of-war threatened on the beach nearby. It was a beautiful, blue-sky day in Hawaii, but not without its dangers.

As about a dozen volunteers at a training session in Wai­ma­nalo learned, Burning Man, the annual pyrotechnic summer festival in Nevada, offers many more ways to encounter harm. But while 60,000-plus adventurers coalesce in the desert each year to burn the 40-odd-foot-tall wooden "Man" to ashes, relatively few are seriously hurt and even fewer require intervention.

That’s because organizers have a credo of "radical self-reliance," and also because hundreds of "rangers" trained in nationwide sessions like the one in Wai­ma­nalo keep a watchful eye on the gathering, day and night.

The local session was held June 28 to prep regional rangers for Hawaii events related to Burning Man, to be held Aug. 25 through Sept. 1 in the Black Rock desert on federal land east of Reno, Nev. Along the way, the training session was a good introduction to the motivating principles and realities of Burning Man.

The eight-day festival encourages "radical self-expression" through art, performance and flamboyance. One of its unofficial slogans is "You’re free to get hurt."

Burning Man is also a test of endurance. It attracts a wide variety of participants, from eco-survivalists and artists to tech millionaires and college-age partiers, and benevolently tolerates a wide range of behaviors.

While its remote location and $380 ticket price tends to weed out the most cas­ual participants, some people do drink too much, get dehydrated and disoriented, get in fights or fall over a tent stake. That’s where the rangers come in.

Each spring, the Ka Pilina Interactive Arts Society, Burning Man’s Hawaii regional group, hosts a campout called Collidiscope on Oahu. It operates on the same principles as the Nevada gathering: to maximize freedom and creativity while cultivating generosity and community.

Rangers walk the line between the two poles, largely avoiding intervention but providing assistance and mediation when necessary.

SITTING IN a circle under an ironwood tree, newbie volunteers listened carefully as Burning Man veterans spelled out strategies to respectfully help people avoid harm.

"We don’t interfere where there is no immediate danger," said Ka Pilina director Mac Kaul, aka Fire Diva.

Then she put it another way: "Are they breathing? Then you’re good."

Trainees laughed but Kaul was serious. She punctuated the lesson with a slogan: "First, do nothing."

Another member of the group, nicknamed Izm, said, "What rangers are is people who can sort out your differences. … It’s important to remember that you do not have any real authority. That is one of our strengths. You are there to help, not to impose your will."

While there have been no serious problems at Hawaii events, trainers said two issues of concern are natural hazards and gate-crashers. In both cases communication is key, they said.

Ka Pilina board member Nathan Contreras, aka Illumi-Nate, said rangers have a close-up view of all aspects of a Burning Man gathering. "You’ll start learning the culture, from the arty to the obscure," he said.

Hawaii "burners" and those interested in attending Burning Man will gather again July 26 for a "Pre-Compression" party. As at Burning Man, costumes, art and music will be featured, and all are welcome.

Elizabeth Kieszkowski, editor of the Star-Advertiser’s TGIF, attended Burning Man in 2012 and 2013. She blogs on related topics at honolulupulse.com/category/blogs/freestyle-blogs.