More Then 33 Dead At Oakland CA Warehouse Party Fire

[N1Medic 69]

 

Quote

 

OAKLAND, Calif. — Anguished family members awaited news of the fate of dozens of people still unaccounted for on Saturday after a fire gutted a makeshift nightclub in Oakland, leaving at least nine people dead.

 

In one of the deadliest structure fires in the United States in the past decade, partygoers at the two-story converted warehouse were asphyxiated on Friday night by thick black fumes, which poured from the building’s windows for several hours. Survivors stood across the street in a Wendy’s parking lot, watching firefighters try to put out the blaze and rescue those inside.

 

Oakland officials said the building, a rambling warehouse they described as “a labyrinth of artist studios,” had been under investigation for several months. They said escape from the building, which had only two exits, might have been complicated because the first and second floors were linked by an ad hoc staircase made of wooden pallets.

 

By Saturday afternoon, a list of those missing, compiled by friends and family, had grown to about 35 people. Officials said that the nine bodies recovered were in areas accessible to rescue crews, and that they had not been able to search the rest of the smoldering, unsafe building for at least two dozen people still missing and feared to be dead inside

 

 

MORE INFO/FULL ARTICLE: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-oakland-fire-nine-dead-warehouse-20161203-story.html

 

[x635 4,066]

Horrible, especially that things like this can happen in modern-day America.

 

Just saw on the news that the count of the deceased is 33, with more expected.

 

Very sad.

[SECTMB 612]

3 hours ago, x635 said:

Horrible, especially that things like this can happen in modern-day America.

 

Just saw on the news that the count of the deceased is 33, with more expected.

 

Very sad.

 

Unfortunately, greed is timeless.  This is not the first time the use of these types of facilities with inadequate protections and egress for a fast buck has resulted in tragedy and it won't be the last.

[JackEMT 77]

Tragic fire.  RIP

[x635 4,066]

Interesting article in the NY Times that dissects the structure with 3D models of what went wrong, how, and where in the structure:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/12/us/oakland-warehouse-ghost-ship-fire.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=1

 

[fire patrol nyc 153]

Seth.....what went wrong was a lot of people didn't do their jobs.... for what ever the reason...now they play the blame game....(my opinion)

[fdalumnus 165]

1 hour ago, fire patrol nyc said:

Seth.....what went wrong was a lot of people didn't do their jobs.... for what ever the reason...now they play the blame game....(my opinion)

 

Exactly

[antiquefirelt 994]

22 hours ago, fire patrol nyc said:

Seth.....what went wrong was a lot of people didn't do their jobs.... for what ever the reason...now they play the blame game....(my opinion)

It's easy to blame inspectors and code officials, but far harder to give them the resources and tools to do their jobs every day. Code offices tend to be way under staffed to conduct follow-up inspections, go to court to get warrants to check when owners are non-responsive, or just find how many people are in fact using their buildings in a manner not consistent with their certificate of occupancy. 

 

We had a similar, albeit smaller scale situation like this, where an old warehouse had been split into multiple occupancies. Due to a lack of fire separation they were not allowed to have a restaurant as the "assembly occupancy " required the greater separation. Just a month ago one of our EMS crews responded their for a young female with an injury in evening, which seemed odd, for a building that had no night time occupancies. Turned out they were holding a Rave. This of course constitutes an assembly use and could not be allowed or permitted. The owner sublet the space and claims knew nothing about it, but low and behold the police reported that this had happened at least 3 time over the summer/fall. The FD, Code office and State Fire Marshal's (who must permit/license public dances) were all totally clueless. Why? No indications, no complaints and no one saw these being advertised on FB. Thankfully the owner immediately shutdown any further uses and now can see, after Oakland just how dangerous things can be when you're an absentee landlord. This building my not have had the same tragic results due to a full sprinkler, but it is a maze of all wood finish spaces with two full floors and multiple areaas with partial floors, a total nightmare to search in the dark, nevermind smoke.

 

Anyway, as firefighters, police officers and EMS folks, we can report what we see as potentially hazardous conditions to building inspectors as few municipal code departments can inspect every building every 5 years, nevermind every year. 

 

[fire patrol nyc 153]

I meant  to imply that fault most likely lies with city hall and the administration...also building occupants  who had to know something was wrong...i'am sure inspectors reported conditions to supervisors ...