OAKLAND

oh yeah several others look familiar to me; I just personally know Ara and Kiyomi. Ara just hosted a show with my friends and my wife a few weeks ago. she is such a sweet gir, my son loved her.

:-(

Yeah, I was at a show with Ara last Friday, and we were talking about sewing and fashion and body image stuff.
I've known Jason for years, he had the best David Lynch in Twin Peaks costume at a party several years back, just perfect.

Old (possibly inactive?) ilxor table is the table is okay. I talked on the phone with him earlier today.

he moved out of Oakland about a year ago. He has friends among the missing though, as he probably told you.

Oof

http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2016/12/03/oakland-officials-recently-cited-owner-of-warehouse-that-was-scene-of-deadly-fire/

City building inspectors last month had launched an investigation into the site of Friday night’s deadly fire for illegal structures built inside the warehouse, but they were unable to get inside the building to inspect it.

Officials had cited the building’s owner for blight on Nov. 13 after neighbors complained of “a ton of garbage piling up” in the adjoining lot. They next day, city records show, officials followed what was called a housing habitability complaint and began an investigation of an alleged “illegal interior building structure.”

When inspectors returned on Nov. 17, they couldn’t get inside, Darin Ranelletti, Oakland’s interim director of planning and building, said at a news conference this afternon....

City inspectors went to the property on Nov. 13 after a complaint of a large amount of garbage dumped outside. A neighbor complained about “a ton of garbage piling up” in vacant lot next to the building, calling it a “trash collection site” and a “trash recycling site.” The building had been “remodeled for residential,” the complaint states.

It was during an inspection of that complaint that the illegal structure complaint began, records show.

“We have reports that people were living in the structure,” Ranelletti said, “but again we are trying to confirm that.”

Ng, according to property records, bought the warehouse in 1997. She could not be reached Saturday afternoon.

Records show Ng owns 11 other Oakland properties, including an art gallery and retail building on International Boulevard, and at least two in San Francisco. A tenant at one of the Oakland properties would only describe her as a nice woman.

Four of the missing are my friends: the 2 people akm mentions as well as one of the promoters and a musician. I feel 100% terrible. There is a first person survivor account on reddit that's truly terrifying.

my friend was the headliner at this show, it's totally surreal to see his name in all these news stories. glad he's ok at least. so awful, he was due for a good break and instead, this.

Whoah Steve - good to see u but wish it was betyer circumstances :(

re: the media response:

https://twitter.com/scottgordonwi/status/805183414508879872

I've been at so many shows and parties at places like that. Most of the shows I've put on have been at places that were "safer," but still not up to code. It's "normal." Having something like that happen at a show I was responsible for was one of my greatest fears for over a decade.

heartbreaking

they haven't announced the deaths yet, so it's this surreal experience of all these people being "missing" and friends and family members posting on their facebook walls that they hope they are ok, and asking them to call.

sarahell: Yes, he said that he doesn't know yet how many friends he lost. He thinks he probably knows everyone that was there...

i really feel for u guys, nightmare scenario all round

xp - yeah, ted was closer to a lot of those folks than i was.

http://m.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2016/12/03/artists-at-last-nights-oakland-warehouse-fire-discuss-the-tragedy-those-missing-need-for-safe-underground-spaces

I dont know if any of you will remember sean boyles aka seanwayne who was in Hellbeard and used to post in metal thread but hes ok. Its not one of the places he went to but i thought id post it here just incase anyone was wondering about him

Kiyomi, one of the "missing" is the owner of the dog in my hipster puppies tribute to whiney that I shared a while back. Maybe it was on 77?

shit, this is dreadful. thoughts with you all

Kiyomi was one of the most genuinely nice and sweet people I've ever met. I hope someone takes good care of Jejune (the dog)

Last night my wife and I went to see the Kronos Quartet (who performed Strange Fruit and Silent Cranes, a piece commemorating the Armenian Genocide); then we went into a bar and the news on the TV (question: why do all bars have fucking TVs in them now) was coverage of this fire for 30 straight minutes, it was easily the most depressing night out I've spent in years, unavoidable. The news is abominable. Go away.

my condolences to you both anthony & sarahell

The guy who ran Ghost Ship seems like a culty pretentious douchebag, the living embodiment of everything shitty about squats and DIY spaces:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35RHugrfL94&feature=youtu.be

He's gone on social media lamenting the loss of his "self worth" but not the loss of life.

this is just the worst thing. today's chronicle & tribune just underscored how horrid it all is. Many work colleagues are tapped into this scene - to all of them and all of you I express my deepest sympathy.

I love these kind of spaces but the majority of them are firetraps. Worse, the people who live there treat fire codes as if they are just another form of harassment, and flaunt them as a form of defiance. It's been a problem for years.

The squats in the east village in the '80s and '90s -- glass house, bullet space -- and worse, full of people who were careless with candles, cigarettes, combustable art material, and often drunk and high.

Here's the d-bag who ran the space

https://www.facebook.com/derick.ion.9?fref=ts

the guy does seem like a douche but I"m not sure directing ire at him is productive in any way

This is horrific. Thoughts with you all.

You're right, but it's been a problem in these scenes for a long time. It would be nice to find a DIY space or commune or art collective that wasn't run by a egomaniac culty dickhead.

http://heavy.com/news/2016/12/derick-ion-micah-allison-facebook-post-ghost-ship-fire/

It would be nice to find a DIY space or commune or art collective that wasn't run by a egomaniac culty dickhead.

I ran a DIY space in Oakland for 10 years.

and you did a great job! and I guess, when it looked like it was going to be too expensive to make the code adjustments demanded by the city, you closed it down. also: your place(s) never seemed unsafeto me.

the thing is, there are code violations that are "worse" than others in terms of being more dangerous. Everything I've read/seen pictures of about the space where the fire was, it was basically the fire hazard checklist the Fire Department issues with every box checked "yes, this hazard exists". The space I ran, had a couple "yesses" but mostly met code. But there is no "mostly" when it comes to the City and Group Assembly. This fire is what the whole permitting process and code checklists exist to prevent ... prevent the City being liable for.

Say Oakland prioritized enforcement of fire safety issues -- especially the worst of them -- and separated them from other kinds of zoning/use policy enforcements. You know, so just like "sanctuary city" policies mean you can report crimes w/o fear of immigration issues, you could report fire issues and have it be dealt with pragmatically w/o fear of the whole ton of bureaucratic bricks coming down on people.

Would this have help in these kinds of situations?

These aren't inexpensive repairs. Making a building like that "safe" for public assembly would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

really horrifying story, well wishes to everybody impacted <3

Another issue is that people were living there, and it wasn't up to code as a residence, either.

this is so horrible, sympathy to those who have lost friends and loved ones

Chelsea hosted my birthday party this year. Her partner is posting photos of her now. He was there that night, hasn't slept since. Doesn't seem real to me.

Sorry lukas. That one is hitting me hard, even though I didn't know her. I got into her music through Joel and knew of her partner from back in the Myspace days (met up with him once years and years ago). Earlier this year I read an article about the two of them and it made me really happy. Just devasting.

prosaic issues are coming up now. Roommates of the deceased are trying to make rent. Who is going to adopt the deceased's pets? There's a candlelight vigil planned for tomorrow. The imps in my brain wondered if a candlelight vigil with actual candles was appropriate to commemorate fire victims.

are you going to that?

(I am) (also, they are asking for no candles)

Yes, just saw that. I think I will go. I live nearby.

I hope this isn't the wrong place to post, but here in Baltimore there's a live/work warehouse space that's being evicted right now with no notice. Fire marshal and police showed up and told everyone that lives there that they have an hour to get their things and leave before they board the place up. I imagine things like this will be happening all over the country now in reaction to the fire in Oakland. Really fucked up.

Tonight's Matmos show at Gray Area has been rescheduled to next Tuesday and will be a fundraiser. Very understandable move, I was thinking about this earlier today:

http://grayarea.org/event/rml-presents-matmos/

Very sadly, a further note, which didn't surprise me given his reputation on this front:

Barrett Clark, the Katabatik engineer and musician, was due to run the audio for the SF Matmos lineup also passed away in the fire. He and all of the others who were trapped in the warehouse tragedy will be severely missed.

Further from Gray Area, from the YouCaring fundraising page:

https://www.youcaring.com/firevictimsofoaklandfiredec232016-706684

We are working with the Oakland Mayor's Office, The Red Cross and other fundraisers to be the main fund for this effort. We will work to use the Red Cross' knowledge of the appropriate format for distribution of these funds. We are working every minute to figure this out. Please keep sharing and donating....

Although close to $200,000 has been raised as of Sunday December 4th at 9:28PM, with the assumed number of 40 victims, this leaves only $5,000 per victim, which is easily the cost of a few medical bills or a small memorial service. At this time we ask for your continued support in spreading the word of this fund to continue to fundraise in advocacy of the victims. We will continue to update the fundraising goal as support pours in to foster as many contributions as possible for those affected.

We are forming an oversight committee, talking with Oakland authorities, and will be sure the funds are allocated appropriately to fire victims and with due diligence. There will be public disclosure through the fund page and via Gray Area disclosing how these funds are spent, while also maintaining anonymity for the grieving friends and family members affected by this event. We are waiting on official word from authorities prior to making further decisions but our hope is to provide relief for Funeral, Medical and Health related expenses first and foremost.

The current amount through this effort is now at $275,000.

Finally for now, Gabe Meline's piece is well worth the read and share:

https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2016/12/04/it-could-have-been-any-one-of-us/

how terrible. my heart goes out to all those who've suffered a loss.

It's a good piece, but lacking in some of the nuance and specifics that led to this happening. That there are places that are sketchy to live in but you just would not have a big party there, if you had sense, if you were the one that could be held responsible. People come to shows at places like this, lots of people, and in the back of their minds they believe there is some responsible person that will make sure it's safe, that will shoulder the burden if things go wrong. And the people that are responsible are not all the same: some are knowledgeable, conscientious, make efforts for basic safety. Others aren't. I'm angry that people didn't have the common sense not to have a show in that space, to find some place less hazardous.

I understand that this is in response to coverage that is demonizing and oversimplifying the circumstances. Sometimes you want broad strokes to combat broad strokes (how many thousands of posts have dealt with this on the election thread?), but I'm tired of reading thinkpieces blaming gentrification and the housing crisis, because people will gravitate towards places like that regardless. And there is a lot to be said for unity in the face of tragedy, but there are differences, and there are hazards that are more hazardous, and there are a lot of people who know this.

I'm angry at my friends and friends of friends who weren't thinking about how sketchy this place was. But I also love my friends, and care about these friends of friends, and that's just how they were, as people. And I spent over a decade putting on shows like this, in places I tried to make as safe, and also as welcoming (in the "safe space" sense) as possible. Nothing like this ever happened. Nothing even close. I look at the names and pictures, and I remember taking their $5 and stamping their hands, and I remember telling them not to stand on a rickety piece of non-furniture, not to leave their bikes blocking the back exit, not to smoke inside ... and it's just senseless. Their deaths are senseless, but also it makes me feel that how I spent a large part of my life was senseless, because of what I ultimately couldn't do.