‘Reckless & selfish.’ Huge Burning Man bash leads mayor to close San Francisco beach

Fans of the annual Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert, canceled this year by the coronavirus pandemic, thronged a San Francisco beach Saturday night to celebrate the traditional closing night of the event, reports say.

But the estimated 1,000 people on Ocean Beach broke coronavirus rules and stoked huge bonfires despite dangerous wildfire conditions as a heat wave grips California, KPIX reports.

“This was absolutely reckless & selfish,” wrote Mayor London Breed of San Francisco on Twitter. “You are not celebrating. You are putting people’s lives at risk. You are putting our progress at risk. No one is immune from spreading the virus.”

Breed added that city officials have heard that people intend to return Sunday night, but parking lots at Ocean Beach have been closed.

“We know people love Burning Man & people want to get together this weekend,” Breed wrote. “But we all need to do our part. Stay home, stay safe.”

A smaller crowd also gathered Saturday at Baker Beach, where the Burning Man festival got its start in 1986, The San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The festival normally takes place in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, where tens of thousands of people camp for a week amid eclectic art shows and other events culminating in the burning of a gigantic structure each year.

Organizers called off the event this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, although some people reportedly did show up to camp in the desert, The San Francisco Chronicle reported.

More than 26.9 million cases of the COVID-19 virus have been confirmed worldwide with more than 880,000 deaths as of Sept. 6, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 6.2 million confirmed cases with more than 188,000 deaths.

The World Health Organization has declared coronavirus a global pandemic. In the United States, President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency.

This story was originally published September 6, 2020 at 1:53 PM with the headline "‘Reckless & selfish.’ Huge Burning Man bash leads mayor to close San Francisco beach."