top
East Bay
East Bay
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

Photos of Ghost Ship Artist Collective Fire.

by D. Boyer
Photos from the Ghost Ship artist collective fire.
sm_img_4878.jpg
Remains of Ghost Ship artist collective. Over 30 people died here. There is a bit of an odor there. I noticed many people who visited that site cry and their were still chaplain's on scene.

Lots of personal commentary on this.

When I went to Oakland CA today to check out the Ghost Ship artist collective I ran into folks I know. I hadn't seen those folks since my City College and SF State days, and we hung out for hours. We even went to some old speak-easy on Fruitvale or International Blvd in the Fruitvale area of Oakland and drank a few beers.They were all hovering around the ghost ship warehouse walking up to folks and chatting with them.

After a long conversation which centered around our lack of community and community spaces they straight up said they do NOT want the leaser Derick Almena, the leader of the Ghost Ship charged with any crime.

They want him left alone.

Why? Because he single handedly created a somewhat safe community space.

Some of the victims from that fire did not have families who supported them or provided them with safe space, but that warehouse did.

Think about it folks. You gonna let anger get a man charged who created a very rare COMMUNITY SPACE?

When I first moved to San Francisco it was an artist enclave that gave me my first job and set me on my path. Those places are needed.
§Ghost Ship
by D. Boyer
sm_img_4893-001.jpg
This place believe it or not provided a safe space for folks who did noit have one. Some of those folks who perished were transgender.
§Lots of memorials
by D. Boyer
sm_img_4909.jpg
§Memorials
by D. Boyer
sm_img_4910.jpg
§Memorials
by D. Boyer
sm_img_4922.jpg
§Ghost Ship Artist Collective Remains
by D. Boyer
sm_15622598_10210095243553075_6475084210004893759_n.jpg
Photo from Ghost Ship artist collective remains.
In this photo, to the right in the forefront you see statues, then you see a fire extinguisher, then further back to the right are what's left of their makeshift stairwell to the second floor, which you can see that floor doesn't exist anymore.
#ghostship #fire #surreal
§My eyes teared up when I visited the site.
by D. Boyer
sm_15492603_10210093162181042_5373191254443412778_n.jpg
My eyes teared up. The hardest part about dealing with this scene is knowing how they died. I have seen a person burn before while they were inhaling smoke and it is an ugly way to go. Sorry for bringing that up.
§Some art or statues survived that fire?
by D. Boyer
sm_img_8551.jpg
You can see in the background behind the ladders a statue on a 4-way dolly. It seemed like some of the relics(art) were trying to be salvaged from the remains.
§The side of the Ghost Ship artist collective
by D. Boyer
sm_img_8523.jpg
§Inside
by D. Boyer
sm_img_8537.jpg
§No 2nd floor and no roof.
by D. Boyer
sm_img_8543.jpg
§A very surreal scene.
by D. Boyer
sm_img_8519.jpg
Add Your Comments

Comments (Hide Comments)
by Jan
You can create a space that's both literally safe and figuratively safe. The two aren't mutually exclusive. Thankfully you and your friends don't speak for everyone. I lost a close friend in the fire and I can't wait for Derick A to be charged. That piece of shit collected money in excess of the rent he owed, and he did virtually nothing to mitigate the danger inherent in the space. So fuck him and fuck assholes like Bob Mule who continue to whine about the material things they've lost when people's loved ones will never come back.
by ntuit
JAN - so you want the government - who didn't do anything either to prevent the fire and conditions and should be charged with something too - to bring charges of manslaughter.

I'm not defending anyone and I'm not blaming anyone. If there was more money for the poor and middle instead of everything going to the rich (who control our goverment and legal system) maybe there would be more money to take care of what needs to be taken care of.

This is not a new story - happened before and will happen again. Nothing seems to get done until a tragedy happens. Remember the bridge that collapsed on an interstate freeway in Minneapolis. Nothing happened to the government agents who had to know things were dangerous with that bridge.
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network