BMIR 94.5 FM (Burning Man Information Radio) is the unlicensed

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popula ...

station for Burning Man, an event held annually in

Black Rock Desert __NOTOC__ The Black Rock Desert is a semi-arid region (in the Great Basin shrub steppe eco-region) of lava beds and playa, or alkali flats, situated in the Black Rock Desert–High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area, a si ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

. BMIR begins broadcasting on 94.5 FM on the playa in the week leading up to Burning Man. Currently, the station hosts more than 40

DJs A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

that produce the programming played over the course of the event.

History

BMIR was founded by Carmen Mauk in 2000. Although the station violates federal regulations related to

pirate radio Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially ...

and licensing radio stations, BMIR is mentioned in the Bureau of Land Management's Special Use Permit of federal lands as an event emergency broadcast alert system, the BLM however has no authority to permit its operation. Other licensed radio stations do exist that are within broadcast range of Burning Man but BMIR does not interfere with commercial broadcasting. BMIR remains operational without successful enforcement by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

(FCC) to shut the station down. Prior to 2010, BMIR only broadcast live during the day, with automated nighttime programming. Starting in 2010, BMIR began broadcasting 24 hours a day, year round with live radio personalities and interviews but now only broadcasts during the event.

Current status

BMIR usually broadcasts from the event from the Thursday before to the Tuesday after, with a full-time staff present during that time. BMIR is utilized during the event to broadcast important information regarding traffic, weather, and other BLM/LEO notices. The station has played a prominent part in dealing with issues happening in the "default world" including Hurricane Katrina and

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

s in the Bay Area. The station's primary operating crew is composed of a wide variety of skillsets, including an RF/FM engineer, a

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproductio ...

, an IT engineer, and a full-time

volunteer Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

coordinator. The station accepts a few new volunteers every year, with on-air slots becoming available in the second year of service to the station. Many current and former station personnel are professional broadcasters.

References

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External links

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Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

Shouting Fire
Radio stations established in 2000 2000 establishments in Nevada Burning Man Community radio stations in the United States Internet radio stations in the United States Radio stations in Nevada Pirate radio stations in the United States {{Nevada-radio-station-stub