Oakland 'Ghost Ship' Fire - 36 confirmed deaths

[bowieluva]

She knew. She fucking knew. They received multiple citations. There are people like this all over the cities, slumlords indifferent to lives.

[bowieluva]

https://www.gofundme.com/supportthemaddens

Fundraising for Griffin Madden, my friend's girlfriend's brother.

[mydeathspace]

She knew. She fucking knew. They received multiple citations. There are people like this all over the cities, slumlords indifferent to lives.

Definitely. It's not like she didn't receive the citations. Unless, Derrick Almena didn't hand them over to her?

Now they're talking about cracking down on all of these artist communes. Just like installing a gate at a train crossing after a kid gets killed.

[puzzld]

Good. If she can't claim ignorance... not that it does a bit of good. Drive people out of this type of shelter, and into what?? The streets, a camper parked at WalMart...

[mydeathspace]

Good. If she can't claim ignorance... not that it does a bit of good. Drive people out of this type of shelter, and into what?? The streets, a camper parked at WalMart...

Tons of people do it. Much to the chagrin of surrounding neighbors.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/...gn-9961268.php

[mydeathspace]

We have all 36 names. Ugh. Missing links to 7 profiles.

[Ron_NYC]

People keep talking about this dude going to prison. What are the odds of that actually happening?

This didn't happen in the barrio. He's going to fucking prison.

I've been reading about this all day. It's absolutely horrific. It blows my mind that some comments on news articles are blaming the artists/young people for being at the warehouse, it's disgusting. It's like we can't do anything these days without being held personally responsible or 'deserving it'. I'm pretty involved in the local DIY scene in my hometown and it's very closely knit and reminds me of a lot of this - to lose so many friends in one night would be absolutely devastating, I can't even imagine how their friends and families are feeling. All of my thoughts and love are with them.

That's because none of these kids voted for Trump. 1 guess who the people making the "shouldn't have been there" comments voted for......



ETA: Holy shit. This is insane. Sorry about your friend, Bowie. 22?? Shit.

[Ron_NYC]

The owner is some Chinese guy who was renting it from overseas to a guy who lived there with his family for years. I'm pretty sure heads are going to roll, but the real problem here is that anyone isn't addressing the housing crisis at all. These kids have nowhere else to go. They aren't living in these conditions because it's cool.

Living there? I thought this was a party space. OK, jumped in too soon. Off to read!

[bowieluva]

Definitely. It's not like she didn't receive the citations. Unless, Derrick Almena didn't hand them over to her?

Now they're talking about cracking down on all of these artist communes. Just like installing a gate at a train crossing after a kid gets killed.

More like banning them from the swimming pool after a lifeguard lets someone drown.

These kids have NOWHERE else to go. The crackdown has already begun: an art commune in Baltimore was cleared out a few days ago. It's completely fucked. No one has the money for better things. Stop punishing the people forced to live this way and start punishing the people who think that poor people don't deserve any life quality.

[Ron_NYC]

More like banning them from the swimming pool after a lifeguard lets someone drown.

These kids have NOWHERE else to go. The crackdown has already begun: an art commune in Baltimore was cleared out a few days ago. It's completely fucked. No one has the money for better things. Stop punishing the people forced to live this way and start punishing the people who think that poor people don't deserve any life quality.

Oh fuck.

[Boston Babe 73]

More like banning them from the swimming pool after a lifeguard lets someone drown.

These kids have NOWHERE else to go. The crackdown has already begun: an art commune in Baltimore was cleared out a few days ago. It's completely fucked. No one has the money for better things. Stop punishing the people forced to live this way and start punishing the people who think that poor people don't deserve any life quality.

Exactly what I saw coming. It's just as criminal as these slumlords being let off over and over again.

[animosity]

Yep. I have heard that at least one downtown has already been targeted.

[Nic B]

Investigators have officially ruled out a refrigerator as the source of the Oakland warehouse fire that killed 36 people, officials with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Friday.

http://www.kcra.com/article/atf-refr...d-fire/8484882

[Boston Babe 73]

http://www.kcra.com/article/atf-refr...d-fire/8484882

I honestly don't think they'll ever be able to pinpoint what caused the fire. It had to be electrical in nature IMHO. In the video from that past resident, you saw electrical cords snaked around all over the place and even submerged in water and damp. It's a fire waiting to happen.

I wonder if they'll be able to go after the landlord since she's outside of the country. I certainly hope so. And thankfully I've seen a couple of articles bringing up the fact that they should be cracking down on the slumlords and not going after the low income folks. I sincerely hope they do the right thing here instead of creating an even larger homeless population.

[blighted star]

I don't know how big Oakland so anything I say is a guess, but is it likely there are some people in "positions of authority" who'll relish the opportunity to evict similar places because residents may have supported or taken part in the local #BLM & Occupy type events in recent years?

[Boston Babe 73]

I don't know how big Oakland so anything I say is a guess, but is it likely there are some people in "positions of authority" who'll relish the opportunity to evict similar places because residents may have supported or taken part in the local #BLM & Occupy type events in recent years?

No. I wouldn't say that. It's more like the ongoing war on the poor here in California. It's disgusting.

ETA: There's been an uptick in gentrification across all of the cities in the State where people who had zero interest in the poor and ghetto neighborhoods all of a sudden buy up a bunch of property on the cheap then try to increase the value of their homes by kicking out the low income folks who have been there for a century or more. Compton is actually becoming upscale now and Skid Row is fill of luxury lofts. The problem is that the poor no longer have a place to go. They can't afford to pay the increasing housing costs. Everywhere can't be upscale. We need affordable areas.

Is especially a problem on Skid Row since it's been designated to the homeless since the early 1900s therefore all of the shelters and services are located there. But they're going through and evicting the homeless and sending them where? There's nowhere to go.

[bowieluva]

No. I wouldn't say that. It's more like the ongoing war on the poor here in California. It's disgusting.

ETA: There's been an uptick in gentrification across all of the cities in the State where people who had zero interest in the poor and ghetto neighborhoods all of a sudden buy up a bunch of property on the cheap then try to increase the value of their homes by kicking out the low income folks who have been there for a century or more. Compton is actually becoming upscale now and Skid Row is fill of luxury lofts. The problem is that the poor no longer have a place to go. They can't afford to pay the increasing housing costs. Everywhere can't be upscale. We need affordable areas.

Is especially a problem on Skid Row since it's been designated to the homeless since the early 1900s therefore all of the shelters and services are located there. But they're going through and evicting the homeless and sending them where? There's nowhere to go.

Yes, all of this. It has nothing to do with anything more complex or vindictive than a war on the poor.

[Boston Babe 73]

Yes, all of this. It has nothing to do with anything more complex or vindictive than a war on the poor.

It's insane. I just looked at rentals today and a crappy 1 bedroom (650 sq ft) in a shitty area of Alhambra goes for $1,800 per month plus tenant pays all utilities and water. I mean, FOR REAL? Nobody can afford that. It's risen from even 3 months ago!

ETA: At this point, we'll have to commute from Bakersfield just to get out of the death trap we're living in. I'm so pissed.

[bowieluva]

It's insane. I just looked at rentals today and a crappy 1 bedroom (650 sq ft) in a shitty area of Alhambra goes for $1,800 per month plus tenant pays all utilities and water. I mean, FOR REAL? Nobody can afford that. It's risen from even 3 months ago!

ETA: At this point, we'll have to commute from Bakersfield just to get out of the death trap we're living in. I'm so pissed.

I was trying to help my friend find a new place and it was just completely insane. I am so glad I have my house and at first my mortgage was so much more costly than my usual rent but now to have the space I have I'd probably be paying twice as much.

[Nic B]

Damn, and I thought Sac was expensive.

I rented a 3 bedroom house for $1400 for the last 8 years, it had a pool but the house was pretty small and I thought that was a lot. Plus we had to pay all utilities (Smud, PG&E and Sac Utilities) and garbage and water.

Few months ago just bought a 4 bedroom house and we pay $1300 a month.

[bowieluva]

Damn, and I thought Sac was expensive.

I rented a 3 bedroom house for $1400 for the last 8 years, it had a pool but the house was pretty small and I thought that was a lot. Plus we had to pay all utilities (Smud, PG&E and Sac Utilities) and garbage and water.

Few months ago just bought a 4 bedroom house and we pay $1300 a month.

LOLOLOLOL
$1400 in Los Angeles in my neighborhood, which is marginal: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac...917652265.html

My mortgage on a 4 bedroom is $3k and I got the cheapest house in town.

[Boston Babe 73]

Damn, and I thought Sac was expensive.

I rented a 3 bedroom house for $1400 for the last 8 years, it had a pool but the house was pretty small and I thought that was a lot. Plus we had to pay all utilities (Smud, PG&E and Sac Utilities) and garbage and water.

Few months ago just bought a 4 bedroom house and we pay $1300 a month.

I'm super jealous. I only pay $1200 right now, but everything is dangerously shot in this place and that's why. Since finding out that the electrical is messed up, I've bought fire extinguishers for every room and it's the first place that I've felt the absolute need to have renter's insurance. That doesn't help our dogs if we're not home though We have an electrical space heater which worries me (we never leave on when we're asleep or not home), but it's either that or nothing since the wall heater kicks out CO. Every 3 months or so, our plumbing backs up in to our tub and she sends her Brother over to snake it out. It's seriously disgusting. We'll have to sometimes go 2 days without a toilet. Then I bleach the fuck out of the entire bathroom each time.

We called the building inspector to find out what would happen and it was explained that we'd be forced to move out while it was brought up to code. We have three dogs and that leaves us with nowhere to go. Not to mention that she'll either evict us for calling or raise the rent astronomically if forced to make the repairs. You can file a complaint against her which keeps you safe for 6 months since if she tried to evict it would be considered retaliatory. But then what happens after that six months? We'd still be left with trying to find a place we can afford that takes small dogs. So we're basically forced to live with it.

This exact same situation is happening to tens of thousands of people across the city. It's a disgrace. No protection for regular folks.

[mydeathspace]

LOLOLOLOL
$1400 in Los Angeles in my neighborhood, which is marginal: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac...917652265.html

My mortgage on a 4 bedroom is $3k and I got the cheapest house in town.

Ohhh, 4 bedroom? You fancy.

There are a few 2/2.5's near me that are under $3k.

Everytime I talk to a young'ish person that rents in SF and hear what they pay in rent (only to have 3-4 other roommates), I laugh.

1b's in SF are insanely expensive (sq ft not even listed because it's probably sub 500) - http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/5889583119.html

Similar sized place to my home, but to rent in SF is $6,600 a month. LOL - http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/5901240094.html

And for super lulz $15K a month - http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/5878736430.html

[Jinkasaurus]

The cynical side of me thinks that eventually the coasts will have just the 2% and everyone else will be living in the interior of the US.

[Amy1217]

Housing prices on the west coast and like up in NYC make me feel so sick. Here you can rent a 4 bed, 3 bath house with a pool in giant yard for 1400 bucks. Downside is you have to live here. lol