Get Too Close to the Fire and You're Gonna Get Burned

But it took an appeals court to make that official:

In case it wasn't clear before, walking into the 60-foot Burning Man effigy isn't a safe thing to do.

Just ask Anthony Beninati, who got literally burned in 2005 after venturing too close to the giant wooden fellow while on his third trip to the Burning Man festival in Nevada's Black Rock Desert.

Beninati sued for damages. But on Tuesday, San Francisco's 1st District Court of Appeal doused his hopes after finding that the "college-educated" man had assumed the risk of harm by walking directly into the effigy while remnants of it were still burning.

"The risk of injury to those who voluntarily decide to partake in the commemorative ritual at Burning Man is self-evident," Justice Ignazio Ruvolo wrote.

Apparently not, since this guy had to sue to find that out.

Isn't it refreshing to hear a little common sense come out of a court decision?