CA - Massive fire at Oakland warehouse party, 36 dead, 2 Dec 2016 #2

[MsMarple]

Thanks CARIIS. They look very odd to me. I worked on a seismic retrofit of a school back in the late 90's....school was built in the early 60's...never came across anything like this. Have even searched for images of something similar...nothing. Mind you I am no electrician.

My first reaction was... no, but after a google search on building wiring antique I did see some similar wiring setups. In the meantime though, the fridge has been ruled out but OMG:

Warehouse owner Chor Ng also owns the building next door, which has storefronts on both 31st Avenue and International Boulevard, records show. All of the electricity in the Ghost Ship came through a single meter that was shared with neighboring stereo and mobile phone shops, according to City Councilman Noel Gallo.

Jake Jacobitz, who did electrical work at the warehouse and occasionally stayed there, said electrical breakers at the collective blew out frequently. He calls himself an electrician, but there is no listing for a person with that last name having a state electrician’s certificate from the California Department of Labor.

Jacobitz said Derick Almena, the group’s leader, installed his own electrical boxes, even when Jacobitz offered to do it.

All of the Ghost Ship’s power came from a single line punched through a wall, where it was then tapped by anyone who needed it, Jacobitz said.

http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2016/12...s-cause-but-electricity-still-leading-theory/

More at the link. The owner got the electric bill and would go to the tenants each month and tell them what they owed for electricity. PGE has no reports of power thefts. I keep seeing reports that the GS was either 4800 s.f. or 10k s.f. If that was one big building divided up between the GS and auto place then that makes sense.

The building used to be a milk bottling plant. It's not in city records and there's no evidence that it ever underwent a fire safety inspection.

 

[human]

My first reaction was... no, but after a google search on building wiring antique I did see some similar wiring setups. In the meantime though, the fridge has been ruled out but OMG:


http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2016/12...s-cause-but-electricity-still-leading-theory/

More at the link. The owner got the electric bill and would go to the tenants each month and tell them what they owed for electricity. PGE has no reports of power thefts. I keep seeing reports that the GS was either 4800 s.f. or 10k s.f. If that was one big building divided up between the GS and auto place then that makes sense.

The building used to be a milk bottling plant. It's not in city records and there's no evidence that it ever underwent a fire safety inspection.

Derick doing electric is illegal, of course. I wonder what the charges will be against him? He thought the building just fine as he lived there so in his mind, he was not doing anything wrong. He was skirting rules for a much higher purpose of his own revelation .

There are so many things he can be busted on. I wonder if he will try to escape or does he think he is right and will never be prosecuted? It seems lke some of his followers are still worshipping him

 

[MsMarple]

The LA Times ran a long story from various people who had lived at the GS. The site seems to allow only limited views. Here are just a few excerpts:

Then, about a month into his stay, he was hanging out with a few people in the trailer next door.

He said Almena's girlfriend, Micah Allison, was smoking a cigarette and yelling at her younger children, ages 5 and 3, to stay close by, but not come in.
...
Marsh worried about the couple’s children, wandering with little oversight. He had driven them to Goodwill to buy them shoes, just so they didn’t step on a nail.
...
One night in November 2014, when Marsh had lived there just a few months, someone closed the door and Shallah [his dog] could not get outside, and she relieved herself on the warehouse floor.

Marsh said Almena stormed up to him in a rage that seemed far overblown for the situation. Marsh said Almena screamed: “I will … kill you. I know people.” He punched a mirror with his ropy arm and his hand started bleeding. (Almena did not respond to requests for comment.)

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-ghost-ship-20161209-story.html

If you can access the site this is definitely worth reading. Be warned, some of it is heartbreaking.

 

[Jax49]

The LA Times ran a long story from various people who had lived at the GS. The site seems to allow only limited views. Here are just a few excerpts:



http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-ghost-ship-20161209-story.html

If you can access the site this is definitely worth reading. Be warned, some of it is heartbreaking.

Tks for posting this link.

IMHO, worth taking the time to delete cookies for the latimes if necessary to access.

 

[Jax49]

Slightly off topic.

My local fire dept. does supply smoke detectors but not for businesses or residences larger than duplexes.

I haven't used the service so I'm not sure if there are other restrictions.

According to online info they'll even change the batteries. I may call to check since I have one room with a cathedral ceiling and I can't even get close to that one.

 

[Tulessa]

I don't think the gov't would buy smoke detectors and hand them out b/c then they would be assuming responsibility for them. You can't just have smoke detectors. You have to place them in the appropriate places according to code, and then you have to maintain them, test them weekly (per many leases I've seen) and change out the batteries once a year.

In these warehouses where people are living illegally and smoking meth (as Derick's Father in Law claimed) the first thing they would do is probably take the batteries out so they could smoke dope without the alarm going off....

They do here in Kentucky. They go door to door, especially for the needy, and hand out smoke detectors.

Ooops! Edited because I didn't read your entire post.

 

[Tulessa]

Any one heard from Git?

 

[rsd1200]

So there was a "good stairwell" that was adjacent to the Almena living quarters? So is it possible that this was blocked off purely for privacy or his own use and derick built the pallet staircase and put up a ladder for everyone else to use?

.
There was a FB page that I was watching for info about the fire, that night, seems to have disappeared, but, there was a guy posting on there that there were another set of stairs, or door, behind where the band set up, that people at the event probably would not know about. He said they came out in the adjacent warehouse,and the door was closed off on the GS's side. He said that he knew about them b/c of an emergency incident, in the adjacent warehouse, which caused someone to have to use that entry, from the GS side to get to the adjacent warehouse. He was trying to get word to people there at the site in an effort to help. I am very loosely quoting. I don't have a screenshot. (I somewhat believe what he said though b/c I had a door in a 2nd floor apt. at one time, that opened up into the 2nd floor of an adjacent, vacant building. It was never locked on my side, nor from the side of the adjacent building.) Had those stairs, if in fact they were there, been marked, as an emergency exit, things may have turned out differently, as the adjacent building seemed to not be damaged by the fire.

 

[Spellbound]

Regarding a second set of stairs:

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ghost-ship-oakland-fire-20161204-story.html
Ng said she believed the building had smoke detectors and two second-floor exits, both wooden stairs. She was not familiar with a report that one of the stairs was at least partly made of pallets. But she was aware that there had been parties in the building.


http://sfist.com/2016/12/08/officials_confirm_ghost_ship_fire_s.php
officials are now confirming that the fire began on the first floor and sent smoke up two stairwells to the second floor,
special agent with the ATF, noted that neither stairwell led to an exit, and it's been reported that the rear staircase, behind what was a stage area, was not known to most visitors and was mostly blocked off because it was used as a conduit for wires and cable
-

I believe I posted previously about some type of officials entered the Ghost Ship warehouse in order to access the adjoining building, but cannot recall what that was about. There should be a picture if I can find my post.

 

[LinasK]

Any one heard from Git?

Yes. they've been planning a joint funeral and memorial with Jennifer's parents and figuring out how to dispose of her stuff. I think it's been kind of overwhelming. And they've been getting some unfair attacks in social media.

 

[Spellbound]

Zachary “Zeke” Schultz, a former Ghost Ship resident and a tenant of an Ng-owned gallery building adjacent to the Ghost Ship, said he had texted and spoken extensively with the landlord about people illegally living in the weatherbeaten warehouse and troubles they were causing. The family agreed it was a problem and said they planned to terminate the lease, which was set to expire in November 2018, he said.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Ghost-Ship-warehouse-owner-A-polite-hands-off-10787291.php

 

[Spellbound]

Regarding a second set of stairs:

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ghost-ship-oakland-fire-20161204-story.html
Ng said she believed the building had smoke detectors and two second-floor exits, both wooden stairs. She was not familiar with a report that one of the stairs was at least partly made of pallets. But she was aware that there had been parties in the building.


http://sfist.com/2016/12/08/officials_confirm_ghost_ship_fire_s.php
officials are now confirming that the fire began on the first floor and sent smoke up two stairwells to the second floor,
special agent with the ATF, noted that neither stairwell led to an exit, and it's been reported that the rear staircase, behind what was a stage area, was not known to most visitors and was mostly blocked off because it was used as a conduit for wires and cable
-

I believe I posted previously about some type of officials entered the Ghost Ship warehouse in order to access the adjoining building, but cannot recall what that was about. There should be a picture if I can find my post.

Quoting myself. Re the report of officers inside the building at a previous time:

In the video, obtained by NBC News, two cops are seen in a room packed with flammable woodwork, using a ladder to access the roof so that they could arrest a man who was on top of the building.

Oakland Police have not commented on the video or whether their officers made note of people living in the warehouse, which was not zoned residential.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...nities-prevent-tragic-fire.html#ixzz4SU9CRWYq



Video shows officers inside the warehouse, can also be seen here
http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/video-shows-inside-of-oakland-warehouse-before-deadly-fire-826378819566

 

[LinasK]

Zachary “Zeke” Schultz, a former Ghost Ship resident and a tenant of an Ng-owned gallery building adjacent to the Ghost Ship, said he had texted and spoken extensively with the landlord about people illegally living in the weatherbeaten warehouse and troubles they were causing. The family agreed it was a problem and said they planned to terminate the lease, which was set to expire in November 2018, he said.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Ghost-Ship-warehouse-owner-A-polite-hands-off-10787291.php

Oh that's bad- they just admitted culpability-knowing the property was being used illegally for purposes other than it was rented for. They are going to have major liability as well as Almena.

 

[Spellbound]

Yes. they've been planning a joint funeral and memorial with Jennifer's parents and figuring out how to dispose of her stuff. I think it's been kind of overwhelming. And they've been getting some unfair attacks in social media.

So sad to know this.... people can oftentimes be very cruel until something awful happens to them, and then they expect compassion. I am sorry Gitana's family has to put up with inconsiderate comments.

I hope the memorial and funeral will be as beautiful as Jennifer and brings the family some comfort. Sending soft hugs to our Git.

 

[MsMarple]

Regarding a second set of stairs:

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ghost-ship-oakland-fire-20161204-story.html
Ng said she believed the building had smoke detectors and two second-floor exits, both wooden stairs. She was not familiar with a report that one of the stairs was at least partly made of pallets. But she was aware that there had been parties in the building.


http://sfist.com/2016/12/08/officials_confirm_ghost_ship_fire_s.php
officials are now confirming that the fire began on the first floor and sent smoke up two stairwells to the second floor,
special agent with the ATF, noted that neither stairwell led to an exit, and it's been reported that the rear staircase, behind what was a stage area, was not known to most visitors and was mostly blocked off because it was used as a conduit for wires and cable
-

I believe I posted previously about some type of officials entered the Ghost Ship warehouse in order to access the adjoining building, but cannot recall what that was about. There should be a picture if I can find my post.

Those damn stairs. :furious:

But hazards were many. It was a cluttered labyrinth and much of the construction was built with scrap wood. A mess of electrical cords snaked throughout the building to power everything from appliances to musical equipment to lights. A set of stairs was assembled with stacked up pallets and a ramp that had boards nailed to it as steps
...
Some at the party upstairs, including a couple of high schools students who got separated from a friend when the lights went out, bypassed the rickety makeshift stairs and jumped from the loft in their haste to get out. Their friend never made it.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...-warehouse-fire-survivors-20161210-story.html

There's more info at the link from survivors who talk about the start of the fire. The whole article is worth reading. Be warned though, the descriptions are very sad.

After reading this article I went back to look at the picture posted of Derick Ion and Micah at Denny's. Yes, the pic is disturbing and to me anyway, a little creepy. But at the same time I understand why the surviving residents are keeping together, and even why they're standing with Ion and wife.

They've lost their homes, their belongings, their art. They lost friends in the fire and I'm sure at least some of them are feeling survivor's guilt. This kind of tragedy changes who you are.

The guy in the middle with the sunglasses described how another resident of the GS broke his ankle after scrambling down from upstairs. He tried to help him wend his way through that awful pitch-black labyrinth and wasn't able to pull him out. When his own clothes started to burn he had to abandon his friend and save himself. I can't imagine the pain of having to live with that moment.

I doubt these people will be provided with therapists to help them through the trauma, and if if they are, these are marginalized people who may not even be comfortable with it. So they're doing what I think most people would do - hold each other close.

I'm just sorry that Derick Ion and Micah are involved. These folks have drunk their Koolaid and don't have the benefit of looking at things from a distance. Everything I have read tells me they were not nice people. I can't help but think of Charles Manson and the group of weak-willed people he duped into following him.

 

[MIKAYOYO]

Yes. they've been planning a joint funeral and memorial with Jennifer's parents and figuring out how to dispose of her stuff. I think it's been kind of overwhelming. And they've been getting some unfair attacks in social media.

So sad. Why are people attacking victims of such a heinous crime. Makes me sick. Many prayers for Gitana, her brother and all who loved Jen.

 

[HMSHood]

http://www.crimemapping.com/map/agency/265

I just dropped the warehouse address into this website and it lets you see reported crimes for the past 6 months. You have to search in smaller time frame incidents. It definitely doesn't look like a safe neighborhood, but I couldn't find any incidents right at the location of the warehouse.

I was kind of expecting at least some petty theft or maybe some arrests relating to complaints from their neighbor, the car repair business, but nothing....hmmm.....

Seems that everyone was turning a blind eye to this building.

I wonder how many buildings are in the same situation as Ghost Ship.

 

[rsd1200]

Regarding a second set of stairs:

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ghost-ship-oakland-fire-20161204-story.html
Ng said she believed the building had smoke detectors and two second-floor exits, both wooden stairs. She was not familiar with a report that one of the stairs was at least partly made of pallets. But she was aware that there had been parties in the building.


http://sfist.com/2016/12/08/officials_confirm_ghost_ship_fire_s.php
officials are now confirming that the fire began on the first floor and sent smoke up two stairwells to the second floor,
special agent with the ATF, noted that neither stairwell led to an exit, and it's been reported that the rear staircase, behind what was a stage area, was not known to most visitors and was mostly blocked off because it was used as a conduit for wires and cable
-

I believe I posted previously about some type of officials entered the Ghost Ship warehouse in order to access the adjoining building, but cannot recall what that was about. There should be a picture if I can find my post.

Brought Spellbound's quote down:

[FONT=&amp]I believe I posted previously about some type of officials entered the Ghost Ship warehouse in order to access the adjoining building, but cannot recall what that was about.[/FONT]

The man who was talking about the door/stairwell to access the adjoining building, on the FB site that night, had said that those stairs had been used to gain access to a person, who was in a difficult situation (my words), within the adjoining building. I've no idea if this is true and, as I said, the page is gone where it was posted. I did find this re; the stairs and the adjoining building:

Besides the front entrance on 31st Avenue, there was a side entrance that had been cut into the south wall that opened onto a vacant lot. There was also an opening in the north wall on the second floor that provided access to a bathroom in the adjacent building, according to Omar Vega, the owner of Custom O’s, an automotive shop on the first floor.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/05/us/oakland-fire-warehouse.html?_r=0

 

[rsd1200]

[FONT=&quot]“They are ex-Burning Man people and had their kids in the place — three kids running around with no shoes,” said DeL Lee, 34, who lived there for three months two years ago. “It was nuts.” [/FONT][FONT=&quot]He described the place as a filthy firetrap, with frequent power outages, overloaded outlets, sparks and the smell of burning wire. A camping stove with butane tanks served as the kitchen, and [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]a hole had been chiseled through the concrete wall to access the bathroom at the adjoining automotive repair shop next door.

http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2016/12...ire-at-live-work-space-in-fruitvale-district/








[/FONT]

 

[Ian]

So sad. Why are people attacking victims of such a heinous crime. Makes me sick. Many prayers for Gitana, her brother and all who loved Jen.

The attacks on these fire victims and their families really struck a nerve with me. I have been on social media almost since it happened flagging their hurtful comments and reporting them and their accounts. Makes me wonder what is wrong with people. There were several of us fighting the trolls and we managed to get a lot of their garbage removed from the various pages.