http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/03/28/editorial-another-fatal-fire-highlights-oakland-inspection-dysfunction/
Forty deaths in four months. How many more people will die due to Oakland’s dysfunctional fire- and code-inspection system?
Thirty-six people were killed late last year in the Ghost Ship warehouse inferno in the Fruitvale District. Then on Monday, four perished and four were injured after an early morning blaze destroyed a West Oakland residential building that housed 80-100 people.
Both tragedies were preventable. If only Oakland’s inspection systems had worked the way they should have. If only warning signs had been heeded and aggressively responded to.
Start with Ghost Ship: At first, officials said that before the fire no city workers had been inside the warehouse, which was filled with furniture and turned out to have no sprinklers or fire alarms, only one obvious exit, cords strung to provide electricity and a makeshift stairwell built out of wood pallets.
But city records turned over last month after this newspaper’s threat of litigation revealed that police had visited the building and associated properties 35 times between mid-2014 and the Dec. 2 fire.
The records showed that at least two police officers who had been called to the site noticed problems, with one reporting an “illegal rave with drug and alcohol sales” and the other reporting that “this is a warehouse that is also an illegal shared housing.”
After Ghost Ship, we were told steps were taken to improve communications between departments and ensure such tragedies were avoided.
Then came Monday. As bad as it was, it could have been much worse. In addition to the fatalities, other residents were rescued from inside and from fire escapes of the three-story building on San Pablo Avenue.
This time, no one can claim city inspectors were unaware of the dangers. Planning and Building Department records show 20 code enforcement complaints for the residential building over the last 10 years.
Records show the building was unstable, had electrical issues, lacked hot water and heat, and had mold and rodent infestation and leaking roofs and pipes throughout the building.
Meanwhile, the fire department, which under state law should have inspected the building annually, apparently failed to do so. Records show fire inspectors visited the site in 2010 and 2012. But it took referrals from other city workers for them to visit again in 2015 and finally again last week. (To the extent there’s any good news, it’s that there was communication this time, unlike in the case of Ghost Ship.)
On last week’s visit, fire inspectors found inadequate fire alarms, smoke detectors and sprinkler systems; a lack of fire extinguishers; extension cords in lieu of electrical outlets; and a lack of adequate emergency lighting, exit signs and evacuation maps.
Three days later the building burned.
If only code enforcement officers had warned fire inspectors or, if they did, fire inspectors had heeded the warning. If only they had shown up sooner, as they should have.
If only.
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/03/28/editorial-another-fatal-fire-highlights-oakland-inspection-dysfunction/
