A fire in Oakland, CA resulted in 33 deaths at a warehouse that was used for parties and living space. The fire is regarded as one of the worst structure fires in the United States in over a decade. The building, which was known as the “Ghost Ship,” had legal permits to serve as a warehouse, but not residents or performances. The cause of the fire was thought to be from faulty electrical circuits. A resident reported to attempt to install a new refrigerator, which may have triggered the electrical malfunction. In another part of the building on Friday night, an electronic dance party was going on. It is unclear how many people were attending the party, but there were 25 permanent residents at the ghost ship. There were only two exits in the building, so many people were trapped inside from not being able to get through one of them in time, or not being able to find an exit at all. The building was an accident waiting to happen; everything about it was a safety hazard. Filled with highly flammable objects, and scraps of wood and other objects littered the surrounding of the building. The warehouse no time at all to engulf in flames. With the inferno burning stronger and faster, few people were able to escape in time. One local who had visited the warehouse before noted that “that place was a tinderbox. Anybody who went in there who had any kind of authority should have not allowed it to continue.” It is still unclear whether or not law enforcement had any knowledge of this building, but it is still questionable about how this disaster was able to happen. Even though everything about the building was already highly illegal, some people still think that laws could further restrict these occurrences from happening. The owner of the building, Dereck Ion Almenia, even remarked that he cared most about his possessions that were destroyed in the fire. To the residents, he was known to be arrogant and apathetic. His carelessness only adds to the tragedy. If he did something to help meet some regulation standards or at the least cared about his residents, this fire could have been prevented. Historically, tragedies like this happen as a result of neglect to the law, such as the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Being one of the worst structure fires in the United States in over a decade, this proves that there are still improvements that need to happen with stricter regulations.
Questions for discussion:
- How could law enforcement help prevent occurrences like this in the future?
- Because everything about this building was highly illegal, who is to blame for the fire?
- What do you think of the owner’s response to this catastrophe?
The owner's response demonstrated what kind of shallow person he is. He is careless and obviously doesn't care about people. Law enforcement should do something to be aware of activity going on that is unsafe
ReplyDeleteI believe the only way that law enforcement can prevent thing like this from happening is by increasing the frequency of checkups on places that events are being held.
ReplyDeleteBeing an "illegal" building puts both law enforcement and the owner at fault. It was the owner's fault for even owning this building and not taking into account fire hazards and the law enforcement's fault for not checking places like these. To say that he cared the most for the possessions that were destroyed in the fire rather than the people who died because of it is heartless and demonstrates how superficial he is as well.
ReplyDeleteits a tragedy and everybody is responsible for it ,law should be more strict when it comes to safety and human lives because all lives matters and honesty the owner should be charged for that .
ReplyDeleteI agree with Haley, that it is the law enforcement and the owner because it is the owners responsibility to make sure their building is safe and it is the law to be checking up on any building that is being used for any purpose and enforce changes that need to be made.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the theme of infrastructure improvement, both the law enforcement and the owner at fault, as Haley said. The building was unkept in terms of regulations and building standards, and to have been granted a permit as merely a warehouse insinuates that the building was approved as a standing building, not one that is subject to change or enhancements, such as adding appliances. The owner obviously ran an illicit housing agreement in the building, thus putting him as the reckless owner and the police at partial blame for failure to check up on the permit. The owner's reaction is disgusting in the context of the aftermath, but there is another side. He may in fact have made the comments without knowing of the loss of lives or even the fact that there was a party in the warehouse and was simply concerned over the loss of his rightful materials. However, this may be hard to believe and puts the owner as a terrible and arrogant man.
ReplyDeletei would say more the county than law enforcement, the county can force buildings to have proper tools in the building to put down a fire, and have more emergency exits. The blame i would say is the owners. I think he should realize that this was his fault and that he should of created more tools to use in emergencies.
ReplyDeleteI believe that they could prevent future events like this from happening by making sure that everything safety wise is up to date and we have escape plans for emergency's like this one. I believe hat this fire is to be blamed on the one who owns the building. I believe that his response was horrible and he is a horrible ignorant man.
ReplyDeleteObviously the owner of the building is to blame for the fire due to him having final say on what goes on in the structure.The owner's response to this catastrophe seems to be heartless to all of those who have passed away due to his illegal building structure that caught on fire, and did not have enough or necessary exits to the building. One has to be quite mad for one to not think of the humans who died, rather reminisce on his belongings that were destroyed.
ReplyDeleteThe owner of the building is to blame because he can choose what happens with his building. To prevent future events like this the law enforcement needs to be aware of buildings like these and all buildings should be able to meet safety requirements no matter what they are used for
ReplyDeleteI think that since the cause of the fire is unclear, the owner is at fault for the incident.
ReplyDeleteI think that the owner is to blame for his incident because he is the one who can say what goes on in this building. The law enforcement needs to be responsible for the safety of the people.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that the building was illegal puts both the owner and law enforcement at fault. The owner has the responsibility of ensuring the safety of the building but it is also the government's job to enforce safety codes. The owner of the building does not seem affected by the tragic event, because he only cares about the possessions rather than the lives lost.
ReplyDeleteIf this building was such a severe safety concern in the time leading up to the fire, I suspect that a tenant, former tenant, or visitor had to have called local authorities to notify them of the dangers. The fact that there was no improvement made to the building's electrical infrastructure or safety measures suggests that the authorities are also to blame for neglecting the pre-existing threats to these people's safety.
ReplyDeleteLaw enforcements could help to prevent occurrences like this in the future with regular inspections. This would help to ensure that the landowners will make sure the buildings are in the right condition to be safe.
ReplyDeleteyou should blame the owner for the fire because it's his job to keep the building up to code especially when there will dozens of people there. the owners response to the fire was awful because he had no sympathy for the people who had died in the fire he was just worried about his building and the stuff that got burned.
ReplyDeleteI think law enforcement cannot check every building and that this fire was due to the carelessness of the owner. I believe it is on the owner to make sure their building is safe, and his apathetic response horrifies me.
ReplyDeleteLaw enforcement can prevent an event like this from happening by making sure warehouses are checked regularly by safety inspectors. Before selling/loaning the warehouse, owners should sign a contract understanding that safety is a must, and if they fail to follow that rule, they will receive punishment. The owner is definitely the one to blame, since he didn't think of other people's safety when letting them enter the warehouse. The owner's response is disrespectful and a shame, he should be traumatized by the fact that people died in there because of his carelessness.
ReplyDeleteI believe the law enforcement cant't check every building and that the fire was due to owner.
ReplyDeleteI believe that law enforcement can prevent these events but knowing of the warehouses and being sure that they do pass examinations and are not seen to be a threat. Although they can't permanently prevent these types of events, security checks will minimize them.
ReplyDeleteThe fire was due to the lack of knowledge from the owner. He was clueless of the danger that was present in the building.
ReplyDeleteLaw enforcement should make regular checkups on institutions a priority to ensure safer public areas for the community.
ReplyDeleteI don't really believe that law enforcement can do much to stop things like this from happening. The only way they could really stop this is hiring many more patrol units to cover areas like this. Being an illegal activity and many fire hazards with no sprinkler system, etc. I think the person to blame has to be the owner, but also do not take blame away from whichever law official cleared this building as OK to still be standing without fire safety.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion i think that the owner is to be blamed for this because of his lack of knowledge of not being informed about his own warehouse. This could have been clearly avoided if it werent for him.
ReplyDeleteI think that law enforcement needs to make sure that any place newly attended is checked and registered so that catastrophe's like this can be prevented. The owner is hundred percent to blame for this. I don't understand how you can have so many illegal things in one place and not think that it's going to back fire. I think that the owners response to everything speaks to his character as well. I think that it's incredibly disrespectful to worry about materialistic items lost when peoples lives have been lost as well.
ReplyDeleteOne way that law enforcement can make sure an accident like this does not occur again by putting up surveillance systems so one trespasses onto a territory like this one. I believe that it was the owners fault since he is the one in charge of this building. They were supposed to know that there was something wrong with the building and that it is a safety hazard which could hurt someone someday. I believe that the owners response to this situation speaks volumes in terms of how much they don't care about people losing their lives and families losing their loved ones.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think the owner is to blame for this tragedy, as well as law enforcement. He was aware of the unsafe living conditions of his tenants and knew how faulty the structure was. He also placed more of an emphasis on the items he lost in the fire, rather than the lives that were unrightfully taken away, which shows what type of person he is. I think law enforcement could prevent these occurrences in the future by making more mandatory checks to make sure living conditions are safe and are met by city standards.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this building being considered an "illegal" building puts the owner at fault. The owner was to blame since the building's conditions deem it an unsuitable location for a mass gathering of people; this poses a fire hazard with the size of the building and the limited number of exits. The owner's lack of empathy is disgusting, and it also demonstrates how shallow he is especially since lives were lost in this tragedy. The law enforcement is also to blame because this type of event and location should have required some sort of a thorough check before receiving a permit to allow the event to continue; this would ensure the safety of those participating and are met by the proper standards.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the owner is definitely to blame for the fire because he threw an illegal rave knowing that he had many violations including fire sprinklers etc. Authorities can prevent these occurrences by monitoring social media events on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc.
ReplyDeleteI believe the owner is the one to blame and it shows how careless he is. Things like this can be prevent by using cameras.
ReplyDeleteI think the person to blame has to be the owner, but also do not take blame away from whichever law official cleared this building as OK to still be standing without fire safety. This would ensure the safety of those participating and are met by the proper standards.
ReplyDeleteI think the person to blame for this tragedy is the owner of the building who had knowledge that people were living in such unsafe conditions. He allowed for them to continue living there, even though he knew that it was not a suitable living space for people.
ReplyDeleteLaw enforcement cant do much when it comes to events like these. The owner is to blame he is careless, cares about the possessions not the lives that were lost. The owner disgusts me to only care about eh materialistic things than something even more important.
ReplyDeleteThe owner is at fault, because he knew about the poor living conditions of the tenants.
ReplyDeleteThe owner is at fault because he is supposed to make sure his buildings are up to code and safe.
ReplyDeleteI think everyone's at fault. The owner is definitely at fault for allowing people to live and have parties in a building where such activities were illegal. Law enforcement and local authorities should've also done a better job of checking and shutting the place down. I think I heard somewhere that other accidents had happened and the building had been reported before, yet no one did anything.
ReplyDeleteKnowing that people are housing here, safety codes are daily being watched and updated. It is the owner fault.
ReplyDelete