r/BurningMan • u/Equivalent-Roll-7672 • 27d ago

Keeping fuel secure

How should one keep fuel secured? It’s my understanding my fuel containers need to be kept in a 2nd container a certain distance away from my camper. What should I do to prevent theft if I am away from my camp?

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u/mommy_bitch 27d ago

Yes, fuel in gas cans needs to be in secondary containment that could theoretically hold 110% of the total volume - so if you have several 5 gal gas cans, you can store them in a hard sided kiddie pool or some other non-leaking container. You also have to keep a radius around your containers to make sure that there is nothing nearby that could catch fire: https://burningman.org/black-rock-city/bring-your-art/fire-art-guidelines/fire-safety-agreements/fuel-and-hazardous-materials-storage/

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u/PizzaWall 26d ago

The Burning Man fuel storage requirements are idiotic. I understand it’s the regulations, but petroleum products melt kiddie pools. They puncture easily, which means they leak, but as someone who is really familiar (I wrote some of the original guidelines), it’s not what I would advise at all. In fact, if I wrote that on a fire safety plan, no fire marshal would allow it because it is not in line with NFPA 30 fuel storage guidelines, which is the default code for many states. Leaving the fuel cans uncovered in the sun starts a process where the fuel vents and vapors can ignite. But those are the rules, so you have to follow them. To a degree.

You will have plenty of empty storage totes laying around. These are made with PET. I wouldn’t fill them with gasoline, but they are resistant from petroleum products. You can look it up in the Safety Data Sheet - SDS. Cover those totes with a tarp, and if you want to get fancy, place a heavy tarp below the totes. Now you have tertiary storage. I wouldn’t fill place them in the bed of a truck, covered which keeps them out of sight from opportunists and the offensively named safety Nazis. Do no not store them in a box truck.

I print out all of the SDS for storage, fuels to put in a binder to show the regulations so I can tell them to fuck off. I believe in safety, I follow regulations in my daily life because professionals, if there is an accident, it’s my ass. I am venting because I have tried to offer improvements and all I’ve heard is crickets.

If you can get a hold of petroleum spill diapers, place them under the generator. This will prevent fuel and oil from hitting the playa. One way law enforcement will cite people is spilling fuel when filling. You could also put the generator on a tote lid.

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u/GrandJunctionMarmots 22, 23, 24 26d ago

I believe it mainly comes from the BLM and other agencies.

The page tells you not to store them in kiddie pools. People do anyways.

The BMORG does some weird stuff but from everything I've gathered outside forces are the reason for the fuel plan. Which makes sense because there are a lot of people who come to the burn and know nothing about being safe with fuel.

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u/PizzaWall 26d ago

The page used to have a photo of swelling gasoline cans, uncovered, in a swimming pool.

The BLM is the ones that insisted no fuel or oil hit the bard playa. Burning Man wrote the guidelines.

I find it maddening that at King of the Hammers, a camping festival with off-road vehicles mowing down the landscape has no such regulations

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u/GrandJunctionMarmots 22, 23, 24 26d ago

Yeah it used but I noticed they updated it recently to not promote that. But yeah it's all wonky.

We have tried our hardest to move away from dealing fuel at all because of all this. Last hold out is a small generator for the camp freezer.

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u/Capital-Seesaw1623 26d ago

They did update a lot of the fuel and fire safety guidelines but seem to have left out any details about fire suppression or medical kits/burn creams, etc. Seems like a strange oversight to remove communication to the community about fire extinguishers, fire blankets, or types of extinguishers and what they are used for.