Man who ran into fire at Burning Man festival dies

A MAN who ran into the towering blaze at the Burning Man festival in Black Rock City in Nevada has died.
Aaron Joel Mitchell, 41, succumbed on Sunday morning to injuries suffered after breaking through a safety perimeter on Saturday night and running into a fire at the annual event.
After being pulled from the fire, Mitchell was treated on scene, transported to the on-site medical facility, and airlifted to UC Davis Firefighters Burn Institute Regional Burn Centre. He succumbed after arriving at the burn centre.
Organisers of the Burning Man festival cancelled scheduled burns through noon Sunday but proceeded with the scheduled Temple burn at 8pm. The nine-day event culminated with the burning of a towering 12-metre effigy made of wood. Attendees have tried to run into the flames as a symbol of rebirth.
Nevada's Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen estimated that there was a crowd of about 50,000 people who were present when the festival's crew of firefighters pulled Mitchell out of the blaze.
"We don't know if it was intentional on his part or if it was just kind of induced by drugs. We're not sure of that yet," Allen said.