9 Dead, 25 Unaccounted for in Oakland Warehouse Party Fire

waltky · Dec 6, 2016

Deputy's son killed in 'Ghost Ship' warehouse fire...

Son of Calif. Deputy Dies in Warehouse Fire
December 5, 2016 - Alameda County Sheriff's Sgt. Ray Kelly confirmed that among of the fatalities in a deadly Oakland warehouse fire was the son of a deputy.

The names of the victims of Oakland's deadly warehouse fire began to surface Sunday, as family and friends learned of the losses. The city of Oakland, citing information from the Alameda County coroner's office, released the names of seven adults who were among at least 33 dead in Friday's late-night blaze in a converted warehouse nicknamed Ghost Ship. Other names have not been released because authorities still need to make positive identifications, in some cases using fingerprints or DNA. The seven victims are:

--Donna Kellogg, 32, of Oakland.

--Brandon "Chase" Wittenauer, 32, of Hayward

--Travis Hough, 35, of Oakland

--Cash Askew, 22, of Oakland

--David Cline, 24, of Oakland

--Nick Gomez-Hall, 25, of Coronado (San Diego County)

--Sara Hoda, 30, of Walnut Creek

Firefighters survey a fatal fire where at least nine people died in a warehouse party on 31st Avenue in Oakland, Calif. on Dec. 3.

An eighth victim whose family has been notified is a 17-year-old, authorities said. They withheld his name, but he was identified by San Francisco school officials as Draven McGill, a junior in the vocal department at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts. In a letter to parents, school Principal Barnaby Payne said, "This is an incredibly unsettling and sad event -- not only for the Asawa SOTA community, but especially for Draven's family. I am in contact with them, and will keep you informed of how we can provide support to them." "We must rise to this occasion," Payne wrote, "and rally around each other with love, compassion and support."

Among the confirmed fatalities was the son of a deputy for the Alameda County sheriff's office -- the agency that is in charge of examining bodies recovered from the tragic scene. Sheriff's Sgt. Ray Kelly, an office spokesman, revealed the death at a news conference, but did not specify which of the victims was the deputy's son. Families and friends of all of the victims were in mourning, with some talking about their loss in interviews and on social media. According to those who knew her, Donna Kellogg was a "free-spirited" woman going to culinary school while working at a local coffee shop.

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waltky · Dec 6, 2016

Three dozen killed in Oakland warehouse fire...

Death toll rises to 36 from California warehouse inferno as questions linger
Wed, Dec 07, 2016 - The death toll from a blaze that engulfed a converted warehouse during a dance party in Oakland, California, on Monday rose to 36, the greatest loss of life from a US fire in more than a decade, as searchers sifted charred ruins being treated as a crime scene.

Authorities said they were certain to find more bodies in the gutted building and were still trying to account for about 50 people reported missing by loved ones, while ruling out any drastic climb in the tally of deaths. If you have a best friend out there, please hug your best friend, Franchesca Dickerson, a 21-year-old hairdresser, told a candlelight vigil, as she held a collage of images of a friend who died in the blaze. Id give 50,000 years to hug mine, added Dickerson, who was to have joined her childhood friend, 19-year-old Michalea Gregory, at the party, but changed plans because of work.

The cause of the fire, which erupted late on Friday in a sprawling two-story building leased to an artists collective, has yet to be determined. Officials have said arson was not immediately suspected. However, charges ranging from involuntary manslaughter to murder could feature in a potential criminal case, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy OMalley told a news conference. Possible safety violations were expected to be one aspect of the investigation, with city officials having said the site was already under investigation for reports of illegal construction. Investigators from the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives identified an area of interest on the ground floor that was still out of reach, said Sergeant Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriffs Office.

He described the spot as being at the rear of the warehouse, where makeshift studios and cubicles were clustered. OMalley said fire investigators and a task force from her office were working with recovery teams inside the wreckage to preserve any potential criminal evidence as they seek signs of victims and clues to the origin of the blaze. Debris was being removed bucket by bucket, said Deputy Fire Chief Darren White, but a large construction crane at the scene required nearby electricity lines to be shut down for several hours, as a precaution. The nature of the fire has raised questions about possible building code violations. City officials have said the warehouse, known as the Ghost Ship, was already under scrutiny, with an inspector having visited on Nov. 17.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2016/12/07/2003660758
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Dale Cooper · Dec 6, 2016

Amaryllis said: ↑

On ABC news they showed a picture of the staircase in question before the fire. There was a painting of a woman who seemed to be engulfed in smoke hanging above that stair case. Really creepy IMHO.
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trucker said: ↑

just coincidental of course
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Oh, for Pete's sake.

I'm about as conservative as they come, and I make quilts with skull patterns. In fact, as we speak, I'm wearing a hoodie with skulls pictures all over it.

This is the kind of judging that gives conservatives a bad name.

waltky · Dec 7, 2016

Refrigerator malfunction looked at as cause of fire...

Fridge probed as potential source of deadly Oakland warehouse fire
Wednesday 7th December, 2016 - A warehouse fire in California that killed 36 people does not appear to have been started intentionally and may have been caused by a refrigerator or other electrical appliance, investigators have said.

Details about a possible cause emerged as fire crews nearly completed their search for bodies in the most lethal building fire in the US in more than a decade. The death toll remained at 36 and is not expected to go higher. Tearful family members visited the scene in Oakland and exchanged hugs hours after the founder of the arts collective that used the warehouse stood near the gutted building and said he was "incredibly sorry". "Everything that I did was to make this a stronger and more beautiful community and to bring people together," Derick Ion Almena said.

He said he was at the site to put his face and his body in front of the scene, but he deflected blame for the blaze, saying he signed a lease for the building that "was to city standards, supposedly". The fire broke out during a dance party on Friday night in the cluttered warehouse. It had been converted to artists' studios and illegal living spaces, and former residents said it was a death trap of piled wood, furniture, snaking electrical cords and only two exits.

A search and rescue team is lowered into the site of the warehouse fire

A fridge was a potential source of the fire, but it was too soon to say for sure, said Jill Snyder, special agent in charge of the San Francisco office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. She said investigators are looking at "anything electrical" on the first floor of the warehouse near the origin of the blaze. "We have no indication that this was intentionally set," she said.

Mr Almena told San Jose television station KNTV that he did not attend the event on Friday night and that he and his wife had decided to stay at a hotel because he was exhausted. City and state officials fielded years of complaints about dangerous conditions, drugs, neglected children, rubbish, thefts and squabbles at the warehouse, raising questions about why it was not shut down. The district attorney warned of possible murder charges as she determines whether there were any crimes linked to the blaze.

Crews have searched at least 90% of the building known as the Ghost Ship and fire officials started knocking down parts of the building they said were structurally unsound. Alameda County Sheriff's Deputy Tya Modeste said of the 36 victims found, 26 families have been notified. Another nine bodies have been "tentatively identified", she said. Officials are still lacking any type of identity for one individual.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/n...f-deadly-oakland-warehouse-fire-35274984.html
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Zorro · Dec 7, 2016

jcarlilesiu said: ↑

50 people in a building that large does not constitute "assembly"

This is why we have building codes though.
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Good points. Most building code revisions are developed post tragedy. I'd put money on it that someone who insured that building was unaware that it was being used for raves.

What a tragedy.

waltky · Dec 7, 2016

Search phase concluded at Oakland warehouse fire scene...

Search completed at Oakland warehouse in fire that killed 36
Wed Dec 7, 2016 | Authorities said they have concluded their search on Wednesday of a warehouse in Oakland California, which was gutted by a fast-moving fire that killed 36 people during a dance party.

The blaze erupted on Friday in the sprawling two-story building known as the Ghost Ship, which was leased to an artists' collective. It was the deadliest blaze in the United States since 100 people perished in a 2003 nightclub fire in Rhode Island. A special agent of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Jill Snyder, told reporters the fire started on the first floor and trapped party-goers above. "There was rapid fire progression. Initial witness interviews have indicated the fire was well developed by the time the second-floor occupants realized a fire was going on on the first floor," Snyder said. Officials have proclaimed a local state of emergency, potentially allowing for state and federal funds to help cover the costs of the response to the inferno. The declaration is set to go before the Oakland City Council for ratification on Thursday.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaff on Wednesday afternoon told reporters the city was convening a fire safety task force to enhance building and event space safety as well as inspection protocols. She said a "flood of complaints and concerns" about other locations have come in to the city since Friday's deadly fire. "We will learn from this tragedy to make Oakland safer," Schaff said. The coroner's office has concluded autopsies on most of the victims, and the cause of death in all those cases was determined to be smoke inhalation, Alameda County Sheriff's Office spokesman J.D. Nelson said, adding that that is typical for a major fire. Survivors said flames spread quickly and billowing thick, black smoke blinded and choked those struggling to flee.

A firefighter watches from the roof at the scene of the fatal warehouse fire in Oakland, California.

Investigators are still seeking to determine the cause of the blaze. Officials have found no evidence of arson. However, charges ranging from involuntary manslaughter to murder could be brought, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley told reporters on Monday. The dance party was held on the warehouse's second floor, which has partially collapsed. The 10,000-square-foot (900-square-metre) building lacked sprinklers and smoke detectors, and wooden pallets partially formed a makeshift stairway between the first and second floors, officials have said. It had just two exterior doors.

City officials released complaint and inspection logs for the warehouse, which showed three complaints had been recorded by the city's building and planning department from 2005 to 2014. Records showed an inspector visited the site on Nov. 17 to investigate a complaint about an "illegal interior building structure" but was unable to gain entry. The investigator did not return to the scene before Friday's deadly blaze.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-california-fire-idUSKBN13W2BG
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waltky · Dec 9, 2016

Oakland city inspectors dropped the ball...

Oakland city workers visited warehouse, did not flag fire hazard
Thu Dec 8, 2016 | In the two years leading up to the fire at an Oakland, California warehouse that killed 36 people at a dance party late last week, city officials had entered the building on numerous occasions and had multiple opportunities to see that residents were illegally living there in hazardous conditions.

The Oakland Police Department received dozens of complaints about the warehouse, and went inside at least half a dozen times, according to police reports and accounts from former tenants and visitors. Neighbors and former tenants also say city fire officials were in the building at least twice. Those who spent time in the artists' cooperative known as the "Ghost Ship," say that potential code violations would have been apparent to anyone entering the building, which was not permitted for residence.

A firefighter watches from the roof at the scene of the fatal warehouse fire in Oakland, California

Living quarters with narrow, winding halls were built from scrap materials, including highly flammable wooden pallets. Nails were exposed, plumbing improvised and a makeshift stairway to the second floor was extremely hazardous, they say. "If you opened the door and stepped even three feet inside it would be grossly apparent to anyone that it wasn't just being used as a warehouse or a workspace," said former Ghost Ship neighbor Ben Acevedo, 45, who estimates he made about 60 calls to police about the property over 16 months to report noise, blight and illegal occupancy.

On Wednesday, amid questions about why the city did not act to shut down the warehouse, an Oakland official said that code enforcement personnel had not entered the building in 30 years. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said she did not know the last time fire inspectors had gone inside. She did not mention police visits, but said the city would launch a new effort "to clarify the responsibility of city employees to properly report any observations of dangerous living conditions or illegal events."

LIFE IN THE GHOST SHIP
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Dale Cooper · Dec 9, 2016

waltky said: ↑

Oakland city inspectors dropped the ball...

Oakland city workers visited warehouse, did not flag fire hazard
Thu Dec 8, 2016 | In the two years leading up to the fire at an Oakland, California warehouse that killed 36 people at a dance party late last week, city officials had entered the building on numerous occasions and had multiple opportunities to see that residents were illegally living there in hazardous conditions.
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How did they drop the ball? They were denied access. They can't storm in like jack-booted thugs. I'm not sure I believe the article you posted about them having visited numerous occasions. That's not at all what I've read or been led to believe.

In fact I heard or read somewhere that the city building/code inspectors hadn't tried to inspect the place for years. Your article refers to police being called for brawls and theft. That's far different than code inspectors. Police wouldn't know a code violation if they saw it, nor should they since that's not what they're trained for.

Amaryllis · Dec 12, 2016

Dale Cooper said: ↑

Oh, for Pete's sake.

I'm about as conservative as they come, and I make quilts with skull patterns. In fact, as we speak, I'm wearing a hoodie with skulls pictures all over it.

This is the kind of judging that gives conservatives a bad name.
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Yeah everybody draws skulls, I have a few skull things myself, but this picture looked like a woman lost in smoke, now who paints that? Now place that above a staircase that will be instrumental in deaths like said painting depicts. It's kind of like someone had a premonition. It's just Creepy is all.

Amaryllis · Dec 12, 2016

Dale Cooper said: ↑

How did they drop the ball? They were denied access. They can't storm in like jack-booted thugs. I'm not sure I believe the article you posted about them having visited numerous occasions. That's not at all what I've read or been led to believe.

In fact I heard or read somewhere that the city building/code inspectors hadn't tried to inspect the place for years. Your article refers to police being called for brawls and theft. That's far different than code inspectors. Police wouldn't know a code violation if they saw it, nor should they since that's not what they're trained for.
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With all the trash built up around that building and all the calls here's how they dropped the ball. Nobody inspected that building in 30 years. Build up of Trash outside may mean the inside is a fire hazard and when complaints about the trash came in they should have inspected the whole building. Heck I'm guessing that they might have been able to find code violations on the outside warranting a look on the inside. But in an misguided effort to be PC and not look like they were persecuting starving artists they turned a blind eye and now 36 are dead.

waltky · Dec 24, 2016

California Officials target underground venues...

Officials target underground venues
Sat, Dec 24, 2016 - FEW OPTIONS: The crackdown is unnerving musicians and artists, who live in the venues and accept risks that can come with performing on unlicensed stages

The party is over at Purple 33. About a week after 36 people died in a fire at an underground music party in Oakland, California, inspectors acting on a complaint discovered a makeshift nightclub and living quarters concealed in a warehouse near Los Angeles International Airport. Authorities searching the drab, two-story building found an illegally constructed dance floor, paired with a bar and DJ booth. Haphazard wiring snaked through the walls and an outdoor staircase capped by a bamboo canopy was flagged as a fire threat. The unlicensed club was shut down and operator Donald Cassel, who also lives there, was ordered to clear out.

The closing of the space dubbed Purple 33 highlights growing friction between underground music venues that can be the only option for experimental or emerging performers and their fans, and authorities who see disasters-in-waiting. Finding them is another matter, when clandestine events can be announced with a fleeting Facebook post or text message and, in many cases, vanish after the music stops. You have a situation where folks are coming together and they are not applying for special permits. Theyre just posting fliers 24 hours in advance and theyre bringing hundreds of people in for different functions, Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloach Reed said at a news conference days after the Dec. 2 fire during an electronic music party at an illegally converted warehouse nicknamed Ghost Ship. We do not have the resources to track those types of functions, she said.

The interior of underground music club Purple 33 in a Playa Vista neighborhood of Los Angeles

After the blaze, officials in Los Angeles, Baltimore and other cities announced plans to aggressively pursue illegally converted warehouses and other jerry-rigged living spaces. The threat of a crackdown is unnerving musicians and artists, who live in them and routinely accept risks that can come with performing on unlicensed stages. The Los Angeles case has similarities to Oakland, where a leased warehouse was converted into living space and an entertainment stage without proper permits or inspections. Lesser-known artists are happy to play nearly anywhere that will host them, because there are very few options, said Amanda Brown, co-owner of the Los Angeles record label 100% Silk, which lost two of its artists in the Oakland fire. These events are way more about community and shared experience than they are making money, she said in an e-mail. Most artists are very flexible and willing to deal with strange venues as long as there is a sound system and some enthusiasm for the music.

The scene is alternately inclusive, welcoming artists and fans of all demographics, and exclusive, since by definition it is hard to find if you do not know where to look. The list of Oakland victims speaks to the diversity it attracts a teacher, a computer engineer, a filmmaker, musicians and artists, a lawyer. Cassel acknowledges he ran Purple 33 without proper authorization, but says it is not because he did not try. The businessman-contractor-inventor who sold skateboard parts claims he spent US$70,000 on licensing and other fees to try to get the city to green-light an earlier club he ran nearby, but neighbors who feared wild parties blocked it. At Purple 33, he remained underground, convinced the outcome would be the same if he tried to go legal. I wanted to do everything legal. It takes a lot of money, but the greatest issue isnt the money. They dont seem to want to guide you along. At the end of the day, they say no, said Cassel, 56, who calls his patrons a family.

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waltky · Jun 7, 2017

Master tenant Derick Almena and his second-in-command arrested for fire...

Two Arrested in Deadly Calif. Warehouse Fire
June 6, 2017 - Ghost Ship master tenant Derick Almena and his second-in-command, Max Harris, were arrested Monday and charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter in conjunction with the Dec. 2 Ghost Ship fire that killed three dozen people.

Alameda County prosecutors found the pair hoarded flammable materials from floor to ceiling in the warehouse, created an illegal party space, and even blocked one of only two exits from the second floor the night of the fatal fire. “The paying guests at the event were faced with a nearly impossible labyrinth of the defendants’ making to get out of that building,” said District Attorney Nancy O’Malley at a news conference Monday. “Almena and Harris’ actions were reckless and they created the high risk of death.” Prosecutors announced the arrests a little more than six months after the inferno but declined to speak about whether others, including warehouse landlord Chor Ng, will face criminal charges. Friends and families of victims on Monday called for Ng to be charged, blaming her for owning a building many called a “deathtrap.”

In court documents, Alameda County district attorney investigator Cristina Harbison said Almena held the lease for the warehouse and lived inside illegally, encouraging his subtenants to create living spaces with “nonconventional building materials,” such as wooden sculptures, pianos and furniture. O’Malley said Almena and Harris “very purposefully allowed floor-to-ceiling quantities of highly flammable materials … that created a deadly and dangerous space.” O’Malley said. Almena, 47, also advertised the space for three years as a music venue and social gathering place without permits, Harbison wrote. Once he began using the warehouse to host parties, he was obligated to install proper fire prevention systems. Witnesses also told investigators he was repeatedly warned about the dangers, but failed to act, Harbison wrote.

View of the outside of the scorched Ghost Ship warehouse building in Oakland, Calif. on Monday, Dec. 12, 2016. The Dec. 2 fire tore through the two-story building on the 1300 block of 31st Avenue killing 36 people.

The investigator released the first details about the fire’s origin, saying it started in the northwest corner of the first floor of the warehouse, but because there was so much damage the “exact cause is undetermined.” Almena was arrested in Lake County, while Harris, also known as Max Ohr, was arrested in Los Angeles County on Monday morning without incident, DA spokeswoman Teresa Drenick said at an afternoon news conference in Oakland. In an initial court appearance, a Lake County judge set bail at $1.8 million. Almena, with his signature goatee, sat shackled in court wearing a white-and-green striped jumpsuit over an orange short-sleeved shirt, answering “No,” when a judge asked him if he had any questions. The short appearance ended with the judge saying Almena would need to be returned to Alameda County within five days.

On the jail website, Almena’s home address was listed as Upper Lake and he listed his profession as “set designer/stage build.” Harris was booked into Los Angeles County jail and held on $1 million bail. He did not make a court appearance. If convicted on all 36 charges, Almena and Harris each face up to 39 years in prison, Drenick said. Almena and Harris are also defendants in civil lawsuits filed on behalf of the fire victims. DA O’Malley told reporters Almena and Harris “knowingly created a fire trap.” Court documents also revealed that 27-year-old Harris planned the party Dec. 2 and in his preparation blocked off one of two exits from the second floor, which “effectively reduced the upstairs guests to a single point of escape” down the makeshift front staircase made of wood pallets. Harbison said Harris was Almena’s “creative director,” collecting rent, mediating disputes among tenants and acting as an intermediary between Almena and the building owners.

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vman12 · Jun 7, 2017

waltky said: ↑

Master tenant Derick Almena and his second-in-command arrested for fire...

Two Arrested in Deadly Calif. Warehouse Fire
June 6, 2017 - Ghost Ship master tenant Derick Almena and his second-in-command, Max Harris, were arrested Monday and charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter in conjunction with the Dec. 2 Ghost Ship fire that killed three dozen people.
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Figures.

The city turns a blind eye to this stuff going on all over the city and found them a couple scapegoats to pin it on.

Liberal paradise.

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9 Dead, 25 Unaccounted for in Oakland Warehouse Party Fire

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