On the night of the Burn, the Man is set afire.  This is preceded by the neon-lit figure raising its arms to announce the beginning of an elaborate fire show that includes a lot of fire dancers, flamethrowers, and a lot of pyrotechnics.

Under the best of circumstances, this would be tricky to pull of, and the middle of the desert with a lot of people from all over the world who have not practiced together beforehand is far from the best.  In '99, I was among the fire performers who got to see our choreography pre-empted when the Man went off prematurely (for the second year in a row).  In 2003, one arm raised and then came crashing down.  But none of the really matters.  You have to just roll with it and enjoy the energy of the moment.  30,000 people screaming and applauding as this figure, a symbol of whatever significance you care to personally attach to it, goes up in flames.

The worst part of it is, the glowing figure of the Man is your navigation point as you wander about the camp at night.  Once it burns down, every direction looks much like every other.

	(Click on the thumbnails for a larger image.)
	These shots are from several different years, but they give an impression of what happens as the fireworks start and fire starts to engulf the structure.
	As part of the Fire Conclave, I end up crouched in front of the rest of the crowd after our performance.  Conveniently, a prime spot to watch the show from and snap some pictures...
		A shot from behind the drummers who played with us in 2001.  They were members of an awesome (sadly, now-defunct) performance group named AWD.  Loved those guys.
	Since 2001, the burning of the structure has generated these mini-tornadoes, dust devils as tall as the fire spinning off and moving away from the flames.  A very cool effect.  The local Indian tribes call them 'ancestors'.
		The moment of collapse.  At this point the crowd usually rushes in.  Some throw things into the fire, signifying a resolution, or an ending, or a beginning.
	Here's a whole sequence from 2004 where the neon progressively dies, and as fire creeps up the frame the arms fall and eventually the whole figure topples.  The last shot is thousands of people running around the flames.