A man, later identified as Salt Lake City resident Christopher Wallace, died over the weekend at a bonfire at an Utah Festival. The police are pursuing the case as one of suicide which seems to be the rational conclusion as the man, as it appears, deliberately jumped in to the flames.
The shocking incident occurred at 11p.m on Saturday at an annual Element 11 festival which took place in Grantsville.
Element 11 is a non-profit organization which aims to ignite a culture of creativity and self-expression. It seems to be a counter culture community which claims to see art in all ways and in all people.
J.P. Bernier, a spokesman for Element 11 informed the Deseret News that there was no negligence or malpractice on part of anyone from the organization or otherwise. “He was very fast; he was very motivated.” he said. Regardless, firefighters tried to somehow douse the flames but remained unsuccessful.
Lt Steve Barrett from Grantsville police said that Christopher Wallace had informed some of attendees of what he intended to do. Furthermore, there seems to be reports that suggest that any form of drugs or alcohol were involved. Relatives of Wallace could not be reached on Monday.
