The New York Times published a piece on Sunday assessing the causes of the fire at Oakland’s the Ghost Ship warehouse that killed at least 36 people on Friday. The blaze was the consequence of a number of factors that have contributed to mass casualty fires since the late 19th and early 20th centuries including a lack of exits and an excess of flammable material:
The space in Oakland seems to have been especially vulnerable: it was a warehouse that had been converted into a makeshift nightclub and labyrinth of artist studios spread across two floors connected by a rickety staircase made of wooden pallets. The building had only two exits.
Theatre and nightclub fires, both today and in the past, tend to have a few things in common: overcrowding, combustible interior decorations, inadequate exits or stairwells, and heat sources like candles, stage lights, or pyrotechnics that can spark a blaze.
According to accounts by former residents of the Ghost Ship’s living spaces, the warehouse’s dangers were well-known to those familiar with the space but may not have been to those visiting it for a night out. From Fox News:
The warehouse had been carved into artist studios and was an illegal home for a rotating cast of a dozen or more people, according to former denizens who said it was a cluttered death trap with few exits, piles of wood and a mess of snaking electric cords.
“If you were going there for a party, you wouldn’t be aware of the maze that you have to go through to get out,” said Danielle Boudreaux, a former friend of the couple who ran the warehouse.
One former resident said that she was instructed to hide the fact that the Ghost Ship was being lived in from others. “She said she was instructed to tell visitors it was a 24-hour workspace for artists,” the report says, “and when outsiders or inspectors planned to visit, residents would scurry to hide clothes and bedding.”
Authorities launched a criminal investigation into the incident on Sunday.
