Officials identify individual who died at Burning Man

A man attending this year's annual Burning Man festival died Friday, as a cold and wet weather system bore down on Nevada's Black Rock Desert.

The Pershing County Sheriff's Office named the man as 32-year-old Leon Reece in a press release on Monday. The sheriff's office did not share Reece's place of residence. The cause of death remains under investigation.

The sheriff's office said a report of an unresponsive man on the Playa came in at 6:24 p.m. on Sept. 1, and medics rushed to the scene. Sheriff's deputies were delayed in reaching the scene due to the weather and by the time they arrived, a doctor had pronounced the man dead, the office said. Reece was transported to the Washoe County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy. It can take six to eight weeks for results.

The gates and airport at Burning Man were both closed on Friday as an unusually wet storm turned the desert floor known as the playa into mud. Festival officials asked people to conserve water and food, and the burning of the Man, which usually takes place on the Saturday night before Labor Day, was delayed until Monday.

With the rains passing, the ground started to dry out Monday, and the exodus began. The wait to exit was reported to be up to seven hours Monday night.

"The Playa is driveable in some places but does have some mud, soft spots, and standing water in others," the sheriff's office said in a statement issued Monday to SFGATE. The sheriff's office also debunked reports of an Ebola outbreak at the festival.