Ocean Beach Fire Pits Readied for Earth Day Blaze

By Thomas Pendergast

On Earth Day (April 22), the National Park Service (NPS) will debut new fire pits at Ocean Beach.

The pits are being created by local artists, who are trying to raise enough money to finish the project by its April 22 deadline. Fires on Ocean Beach will be held in a dozen artistic fire pits, created by the artists so the tradition of fires on the beach will continue.

Surfrider SF, an environmental organization, is supporting a plan proposed by a group of artists and volunteers calling themselves Burners Without Borders (BWB). Burners started in 2005 when some people attending the Burning Man art festival went to Mississippi in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina to help with disaster relief efforts. They have now organized more than a dozen artists and assistants to build between eight and 12 fire rings for Ocean Beach in the hope of avoiding a total ban.

Jake Beinecke, a Surfrider member who has been working with NPS to clean up the beach, said he was surprised when an informal poll of Surfrider members showed them about evenly split on whether or not they wanted to ban fires at Ocean Beach.

"The worst of the trashy areas is the bonfire area. It's not just an aesthetic problem, it's a safety issue and an environmental issue," Beinecke said.

He hopes the project might begin a partnership between Surfrider, the Ocean Beach Foundation (OBF) and the NPS that will "create an atmosphere of responsibility and collaboration between the community and the National Park Service."

Tom Price, the project coordinator for BWB, said he has $28,500 in cash and committed money, as of press time, but estimates the group needs another $13,500 to complete 12 fire pits, two extra pits and a 10 percent maintenance fee required by the NPS.

"The artists aren't getting paid but some of the people they work with have to get paid," said Carmen Mauk, a member of BWB.

"What we estimated was that each one, if it's going to last and going to work, needs to be budgeted between $2,500 and $3,000," Mauk said.

She pointed out that these are professional artists, experienced in this type of construction.

"We're trying to be reasonable, but for a permanent art piece on the beach it seems very reasonable, especially if it's going to last," Mauk said.

"This year's program is experimental, so, we see this as a test program with a limited number of fire rings," said Rudy Evenson, a member of NPS.

"In 2007 we'll be doing a kind of experiment with volunteerism to see if we can make a win-win situation out of this, where we get to continue having this activity, which a lot of people enjoy, and also make the beach cleaner," he said.

According to Evenson, who has been spearheading the fire ring issue for the NPS has already spent $1,000 on four stock fire rings and is holding another $2,000 to purchase eight more if the artists can't come through. He's not about to take a complete ban off the table in case the pits can not be maintained properly, which he says the park service will not attempt.

A final decision on the fire rings is the responsibility of Brian O'Neil, the superintendent of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Beinecke is confident the Surfrider group can muster enough volunteers to clean the fire pits and the beach area around them at least once a week.

Bob Wilms, speaking on behalf of OBF, said his organization would be willing to hold weekly cleanups separately from Surfrider.

"We're super excited that the public has access," he said.

His one criticism was that there would only be a dozen of these fire rings initially, all other bonfires will be illegal and citations will be issued. Wilms said the OBF would support expanding the number of fire rings "depending on how successful this pilot program is."