So very sorry. Nothing anyone can say will make things better but I offer my sincerest condolences and hope that you, your husband, and friends and family of all the victims can find a way to heal. I can't even imagine experiencing this magnitude of tragedy.
This is beautiful, thank you for sharing it.
According to an article, Chor Ng owns the property (along with some other property in the area) and rents the property to Derick for $5000 a mth. Derick sub-lesses the warehouse to others for $500 a month. They sort of have like an RV area that people live in. Derick then rents out some space for parties.
Friends say the only reason people rent there is because they can't afford anywhere else.
I just looked at rentals in Oakland. HOLY price shock. I really don't see how people can afford to live there. What they pay in rent for a small dumpy one bedroom apt is MORE than I pay for my mortgage.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/05/us/cal...hip-warehouse/"People are desperate for places," she said. "It's one of those things where you don't want to report something you see because you know how hard it is for people to find spaces."
Live-work warehouses are becoming increasingly common in urban areas as the rising real estate market squeezes out artists and longtime residents of formerly bohemian enclaves including San Francisco and Oakland.
As more people seek refuge in the warehouses amid the housing shortage, the harder it gets to keep everything up to code, Dunn said.
"To have that type of living space totally aboveboard, [landlords and tenants] would be completely priced out," he said. "There is a fear if someone blows the whistle on a safety issue that it's going to lead to them being evicted, because there's so much money tied up
The housing crisis is an absolute disgrace. It's criminal. It's happening all over California and all of the major cities of America. It started with the housing bubble in 2008, people lost their homes and were forced to rent. People with money took advantage and scooped up properties and started renting them out. Since there were an overabundance of renters now (people who lost their home), they increasingly hiked up the cost over the years and now it's unaffordable to the large majority of the population.
In CA in particular (can't speak for elsewhere) the Chinese bought properties all over the place and use these properties to "hide" their money from their government. They are NOTORIOUS for not fixing properties, not being up to code and then claiming ignorance.
How do I know? I live in a place owned by a Chinese Woman who won't do ANYTHING to the property. There was no smoke or CO alarm, I bought my own. That's when we discovered the wall heater was giving off CO and couldn't use it. No heat. We discovered cockroaches, she did nothing and we spent two months eradicating them ourselves. There are rats in the attic, they have chewed through the wiring and our pipes. The electrical is fucked. The plumbing is fucked.
We're trying to move, but you guessed it! Can't afford to.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/articl...e-10691083.php
Donna Kellogg
A ?freewheeling and free-spirited? person, Donna Kellogg rode a bright blue bicycle and loved coffee. She also loved cooking vegetables and soup, particularly borscht and miso. And she played the drums with a passion.
?She liked avant-garde music,? said her father, Hugh Slocum. It was the kind of music they were playing at the Oakland warehouse known as the the Ghost Ship on Friday night.
The 32-year-old Oakland resident worked as a barista at the High Wire coffee shop in Berkeley, a boutique roaster that takes its coffee as seriously as Kellogg did.
Slocum, of Salinas, said his daughter always enjoyed the outdoors and had just returned from a hiking trip to Point Reyes.
A recent graduate of San Francisco State University, she was studying for an additional degree in culinary arts at Laney College in Oakland. She was passionate about ?holistic cooking? and good nutrition.
She grew up in Chico, graduated from Chico High and came to the Bay Area ?to attend college, and because she loved the Bay Area,? her father said.
A friend who gave her name only as Kim said Kellogg was a ?candid person in a beautiful, delightful way.? She was ?freewheeling and free-spirited.?...
more at link...
There are several youcaring. Here's Cash's:
https://www.youcaring.com/leisabaird...nyhaire-707509
Here's the general one for the community:
https://www.youcaring.com/firevictim...c232016-706684
I am soooo sorry that you have to deal with that as well...wish there was a way you could force your landlord to get the place up to par. I live in Texas & the cost of living has gone up a lot...I am lucky enough to have my grandparents who rent me my house for very cheap..(it was their first home and they bought a new one)I make a good living as does my BF, but honestly if we didn't have this house, we would be struggling. I feel for you & understand how rough it must be. It's sad that good hard working people are left with little options. I still don't understand how our government can pay for people to live, pop out a bunch of kids and remain unemployed without a care in the world, while those of us that work our asses of struggle to live paycheck to paycheck.
K Records is raising money by selling a collection of Joey Casio's singles
http://shop.krecs.com/collections/al...ief-fundraiser
Joey also died in the fire. He set up most of my husband's Oakland shows and was very well known and loved within the scene.
We've contacted the building inspector, but unfortunately it would end with us hanging to move out and trying to find a place that we can afford and accepts small dogs on short notice is pretty much impossible.
We've been putting away money and paying off credit cards so we should be prepared to pay out the nose (begrudgingly) in the New Year. Once we're out, she's seriously screwed. We're going to nail her to the wall.
Point is, that there are tens of thousands of people like us and it's absolutely no surprise that what happened in Oakland happened. What's worse? Living in a potential death trap? Or on the streets? Because there's literally no other options.
ETA: and not being racist here, but we will NEVER rent from a Chinese landlord again. Ever.
Well I hope that your landlord gets what she deserves & y'all get out of that situation safe & sound. It is very sad that there are so many others like you & your family who are left with such few options. So very sad what happened in Oakland. The victims seemed to be such amazing & creative people & it breaks my heart. This should have never happened. Nothing good comes from making a buck from someone else's misfortune or desperation.
This house is a drive of 13 minutes far from where I stayed in October when me and my bf drove along the West Coast. I think I remember driving past it several times. What a tragedy.
people magazine published a nice tribute to Cash
http://people.com/human-interest/22-...im-cash-askew/
I lived in a big co-op house with at least 10 people residing there at all times, plus guests. We also hosted shows. The place was a dump but our rent was cheap. We were instructed by the person who was on the lease to avoid any interaction with the landlords and to only come to him with any issues. Needless to say, nothing ever got fixed. The idea was that if we became a problem in any way, they'd probably just shut us down and kick us all out so we were always feeling insecure in our housing.
One dangerous issue with the live/work wherehouse space (on top of shitty slumlords who absolutely know what is going on and turn a blind eye) is definitely accessibility. People work to build up rooms that didn't exist out of substandard materials and it can become an unstable maze. Often, certain areas are blocked off because that is where people live and they don't want everyone coming through. I was reading that the ghost ship had an additional stairway from the top but it had been blocked off for some reason.
The loss of life here is devastating. So many factors came together to make it happen including the housing crisis, bad management and na?vet?. I can't imagine many people really consider the safety of the places they go regularly and even if they do worry about it, their options are limited. Every time a creative space pops up legitimately, it's either too explensive to maintain or under constant legal scrutiny. People need spaces like this and unfortunately it comes with some risk.
Confirmed dead are:
Travis Hough - https://www.facebook.com/travismicha...nhough?fref=ts
Nick Gomez-Hall - https://www.facebook.com/nick.gomezhall
Cash Askew - https://www.facebook.com/cash.askew?fref=ts
David Cline - https://www.facebook.com/david.t.cline.3?fref=ts
Donna Kellogg
Sara Hoda
Brandon Chase Wittenauer
+ a 17-year-old whose name isn't mentioned
Bowie, I am so sorry for you and your husband. :'( Please keep strong.
I think this is Donna: [edit nope, wrong girl]
Last edited by Amy1217; 12-06-2016 at 03:49 PM.
The 17 year old has been identified as Draven McGill, a junior at the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts. McGill was the son of Phil McGill, a deputy for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.
They've brought in a crane and have cut the power for the afternoon for safety. Its chilly today, but no rain yet.
Places like that are usually all ages. It's pretty much just a house party. BYOB sort of thing.
Some reporter found the guy who ran it at a hotel: http://abc7news.com/news/exclusive-g...-fire/1640208/
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