Oakland "crash pad" warehouse for artists burns down, at least 36 dead

[Dan Druff]

Story is over 2 days old, but I haven't seen t posted yet here.

Oakland had a building nicknamed "The Ghost Ship", a warehouse converted into a makeshift group of artists' spaces and areas to sleep.

It was known as a "crash pad" for artists from out of the area who could not afford to stay at hotels in the SF/Oakland Bay Area.

However, due to the copious amount of clutter throughout the building, along with the fact that it was not built to be residential and lacked various fire safety measures, it was known to some as a "death trap", and at least 36 people paid with their lives during a fire on Friday night.

The fire occurred on Friday night at 11:30pm, just as a late-night electronica dance party had started there.

In one scathing 2015 post on yellowpages.com, someone who had once lived there wrote: http://www.yellowpages.com/oakland-c...yuga-502860330

Owner Derick Ion is unstable and dangerous. He does not honor agreements and gets violent, demanding thousands of extra dollars for imagined grievances. If not appeased, he has been known to violently react and steal anything that has not been removed from the space. DO NOT DO BUSINESS HERE. Additionally, the place is an absolute deathtrap - one incident, and anybody unfortunate enough to be inside will be trapped in a mountain of trash and improvised construction.

There were apparently 18 full-time residents there.

There were a number of complaints to the city regarding the safety of the building, including one on November 17, but apparently these were not followed up on aggressively.

It is assumed that most on the second floor died, as the staircase was poorly constructed, narrow, and difficult to find amid the clutter.




Some of you might remember Colleen. I remember she had a space in a warehouse like this in Los Angeles for some time. Similar to this one, a lot of people were cramped into a small space, and it would often have late night parties. I don't believe she lived there, though.


I believe this is the worst US fire as far as death toll since the 2003 Rhode Island fire at a nightclub during a concert by the band "Great White".

You can actually see the disturbing scene unfold there in this video shot by a TV cameraman there:

[lol wow]

Real talk ur gay son is going to.go up in one these high off.his mind.on.future drugs in.2031

[Draymond]

My cousin had a small studio in a crash pad a few years ago in the northeast. She was a painter, had a cot and shared a generic bathroom with other female artists. She still lived at home but would stay there usually a couple days a week. She mainly was just unemployed trying to figure out what she was going to do, so she was an "artist" which was a joke because none of her shit was selling.

Anyway, the living quarters were upstairs, and downstairs was a huge common area where artists sold their art and basically just got stoned all day. So I went one day because she was having a sale and she took the time to actually mail be an invite through actually a post office, hard to believe anyone under 25 knows what a post office is.

So I went, and I was fucking shocked. The place was literally gag worthy and it fucking stunk literally like shit. There was trash and empty soda cans and butts all over the place. She showed me her studio upstairs, and it was a mattress on some wood beams, with two lamps and a half dozen pictures she had painted. And paint, paint, paint. I was like how the fuck can you sleep with this paint stench?

Anyway I was there like 10 minutes and bailed. I am not going to say I left thinking the place was a fire hazzard, I did not pay attention enough to see if their was sprinklers. I did leave thinking the place was a total health hazard, and infested with roaches. I was there in the dead of winter, I could only imagine how horrendous that place would stink with no AC in the summer. I also remember just about everyone was smoking and all the windows were down because it was like 20 degree outside.

[sonatine]

this is just starting to gather momentum.

derick ion (owner) went on facebook and had the balls to post about how devastated he is to be broke now that his warehouse is destroyed. literally not one word about the 38 lives lost. thats going to play super strong in front of a jury, and yes this is now a criminal investigation.

shock is turning to anger now in the community as well, not just because of the negligence and loss of life, but because there 100% absolutely will be a crackdown on the only types of creative spaces left in the bay area. and really if youre a creative, and you (why?) choose to remain in the bay area, you are absolutely fucked without these sorts of housing/space arrangements.

its profoundly weird that this place wasnt shut down ages ago btw. nothing about it was up to any sort of code, it was never zoned residential, trash was piling up in and out doors, the ladder to the second floor was basically made of kindling and there were no other egress routes.

[LarryLaffer]

we have plenty of these DIY spaces in chicago.

i usually don't go to parties or shows that take place in them. this is why.

[Wiganer]

These kind of things show why libertarianism is fucking dumb.

[LarryLaffer]

These kind of things show why libertarianism is fucking dumb.

explain a bit more?

because that had nothing to do with libertarianism.

read the story, it has to do with government beauracracy (sp?) and how slow things move. The last complaint about the place being a fire hazard was on 11/17 not even a month ago.

If the fire marshall can show up at a bar and fine an owner for having too many people just on a whim (they do that all the time to generate revenue) then why couldn't they go and take a look at this place?

it's a tragedy that could've been avoided.

[Wiganer]

These kind of things show why libertarianism is fucking dumb.

explain a bit more?

because that had nothing to do with libertarianism.

read the story, it has to do with government beauracracy (sp?) and how slow things move. The last complaint about the place being a fire hazard was on 11/17 not even a month ago.

If the fire marshall can show up at a bar and fine an owner for having too many people just on a whim (they do that all the time to generate revenue) then why couldn't they go and take a look at this place?

it's a tragedy that could've been avoided.

Because in libertarian La-la land there wouldn't have even been the prospect of stopping these drug addled fuckwits from killing dozens through their lack of care.

[herbertstemple]

These kind of things show why libertarianism is fucking dumb.

explain a bit more?

because that had nothing to do with libertarianism.

read the story, it has to do with government beauracracy (sp?) and how slow things move. The last complaint about the place being a fire hazard was on 11/17 not even a month ago.

If the fire marshall can show up at a bar and fine an owner for having too many people just on a whim (they do that all the time to generate revenue) then why couldn't they go and take a look at this place?

it's a tragedy that could've been avoided.

I think I see his logic. This place existed without any government control. They were breaking many rules but there was never any intervention. So this place existed government free.

Also thinking some officials heads may roll here as well. Somebody just didn't do their job.

[LarryLaffer]

explain a bit more?

because that had nothing to do with libertarianism.

read the story, it has to do with government beauracracy (sp?) and how slow things move. The last complaint about the place being a fire hazard was on 11/17 not even a month ago.

If the fire marshall can show up at a bar and fine an owner for having too many people just on a whim (they do that all the time to generate revenue) then why couldn't they go and take a look at this place?

it's a tragedy that could've been avoided.

Because in libertarian La-la land there wouldn't have even been the prospect of stopping these drug addled fuckwits from killing dozens through their lack of care.

it's not like the city didn't know the joint existed. so that logic can get fucked. it's an example of how slow our fucking government is all the way from the top the the bottom. i wonder what the city fire marshal has been up to between now and 11/17

[sonatine]

these drug addled fuckwits

to be clear, the person responsible is one 'derick ion'. the tenants just wanted a cool place to live and coop and party.

[lol wow]

real talk when tine uses airbnb he has to register as a family of 5


cuz hes fat yall

[NaturalBornHustler]

http://www.tmz.com/2016/12/05/oaklan...lmena-mug-shot

Derick Ion Almena -- the guy who ran the Oakland art commune that went up in flames -- has a rap sheet, and not just in the Bay Area ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... Almena was pulled over in L.A. County for having expired tags in March 2015, and while searching his car cops discovered he had 2 stolen license plates from vehicles registered in Oakland. We're told he was arrested and booked for petty theft.

Almena was never charged though -- the D.A. declined to prosecute.
As we reported ... he was also facing a*stolen property case*in Alameda County, and is currently on probation for that one.

[OSA]

these drug addled fuckwits

to be clear, the person responsible is one 'derick ion'. the tenants just wanted a cool place to live and coop and party.

This is just like a landlord renting out an illegal apartment.

Even though the tenant knows that this is illegal, they cannot stay away from the deal and they live there.

However, unfortunately the courts don't agree with my assumption of risk opinion and he will most likely be charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Thousands of rental properties are rented out illegally and I believe if the tenant died because of similar circumstances or because the first responders couldn't reach them in time the same would happen here in NY.


That being said, I have never heard of these kinds of communities except on the West Coast.

So yea, hippies.

[PLOL]

to be clear, the person responsible is one 'derick ion'. the tenants just wanted a cool place to live and coop and party.

This is just like a landlord renting out an illegal apartment.

Even though the tenant knows that this is illegal, they cannot stay away from the deal and they live there.

However, unfortunately the courts don't agree with my assumption of risk opinion and he will most likely be charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Thousands of rental properties are rented out illegally and I believe if the tenant died because of similar circumstances or because the first responders couldn't reach them in time the same would happen here in NY.


That being said, I have never heard of these kinds of communities except on the West Coast.

Have you ever heard of an illegal basement unit being rented out of Brooklyn? Asking for a friend

[lol wow]

Dang haaaaaters in the building

[hardeight]

These kind of things show why libertarianism is fucking dumb.

explain a bit more?

because that had nothing to do with libertarianism.

read the story, it has to do with government beauracracy (sp?) and how slow things move. The last complaint about the place being a fire hazard was on 11/17 not even a month ago.

If the fire marshall can show up at a bar and fine an owner for having too many people just on a whim (they do that all the time to generate revenue) then why couldn't they go and take a look at this place?

it's a tragedy that could've been avoided.

The fire marshal was to busy shaking down business with money to care about these hipsters

[SantaCruz]

explain a bit more?

because that had nothing to do with libertarianism.

read the story, it has to do with government beauracracy (sp?) and how slow things move. The last complaint about the place being a fire hazard was on 11/17 not even a month ago.

If the fire marshall can show up at a bar and fine an owner for having too many people just on a whim (they do that all the time to generate revenue) then why couldn't they go and take a look at this place?

it's a tragedy that could've been avoided.

In California there is a very large group of property rights fanatics and a large number of lawyers who back them up. "That's where the money is", as one lawyer explained to me.

I know that in the county that I live in, which isn't all that far from Oakland, county officials aren't allowed to investigate illegal living structures on their own volition. They can only investigate if they get a formal complaint from a third party, usually a neighbor.

That's because the property rights people will sue the officials on the basis that they are being persecuted for their strong Constitutional beliefs. They will also sue the officials as individuals for singling them out. So in order to investigate anyone without a third party complaint, the officials would need to investigate all dwellings which would be financially prohibitive.

Years ago I was deeply involved in all of that stuff. A lot of the property rights people are uneducated Constitutional fanatics. They can be very difficult to deal with and purposely drive up the costs to force government agencies to back-off on enforcing regulations.

[blubbernuffle]

we have plenty of these DIY spaces in chicago.

i usually don't go to parties or shows that take place in them. this is why.

You suck at having a social life is why
we know better

[blubbernuffle]

Druff says "Crash pad" in air quotes (in my mind) when I read this thread
he rolls his eyes at the same time