Ghost Ship Warehouse Fires

1. The Ghost Ship warehouse was one of many converted warehouses in Oakland that serve as a work and living haven for a mix of musicians and artists from jewelers to poets to tattoo artists and photographers. Its purpose was to nurture the thriving underground art scene. The warehouse was filled with exoctic decor such as rainbow lanterns gaurded by figures of Asian dieties encompassed by a welcoming vibe. This particular night that the fire happened there was a electronic dance party going on.

2. The fire started in the warehouse because of an overload on the electrical system in the warhouse most likely caused by all of the power used by the performers at the electronic dance party. There were so many victims because there were no fire alarms, no sprinklers and the two stairways from the second floor party did not lead to the buildings only two exits. Also there were many obscurities in the paths to exits so it was very hard for people to actually make it to the exits.

3. In both fires there were very few easily accesible exits as well as the abudance of obscurites such as machines and cloth in the triangle fire and nic nacs and furniture in the Oakland ghost ship fire. The lack of exits combined with the blocked paths to exits are what made both of these fires so dangerous and resulted in a massive loss of life.
              



Sources:
https://trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu/story/introduction.html
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/urvivor-oakland-ghost-ship-fire-recalls-tragedy-article-1.2906006
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/12/us/oakland-warehouse-ghost-ship-fire.html