La Contessa Has Been Destroyed in a Fire

I just found out the sad news that the amazing and beautiful “La Contessa”, Extra Action Marching Band’s 60’ Spanish galleon that sailed around Burning Man in previous years, has been destroyed in a fire. At this point we do not know if it was an accident, burned on purpose or if it was arson. If anyone has any additional information regarding what happened, please leave a comment.

UPDATE 1: Caleb Schaber shot a video of La Contessa post-burn. According to Caleb, La Contessa was destroyed by arson. [thanks to Slim for the tip]

UPDATE 2: Steve Jones’ in-depth article for SF Bay Guardian on the fate of La Contessa: “The mystery of La Contessa”

UPDATE 3: On Friday, February 2nd hundreds of people showed up for a La Contessa Burial at Sea.