Outrageous: ‘Before’ pictures from Oakland show what a fire trap looks like

Previous coverage of this fire

“Before” pictures from inside the artist conclave in a converted Oakland, California warehouse where as many as 40 people died in a fire late last (Friday) night provide important evidence into why this tragedy occurred. The images from “Ghost Ship” look like they could be on an exam for would-be fire marshals where the students have to identify all the hazards they see.

I’ve posted three of the many pictures from oaklandghostship.com. Take a look at all of them here.

Officials say there was only one exit on the 2nd floor of the #GhostShip and most of the victims were trapped there. https://t.co/sj4xiKX2gl

— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) December 3, 2016

We don’t know what caused this fire yet, but there’s a lot in these pictures that tell you why and how the fire spread and why people couldn’t get out. You don’t need to be a fire protection engineer to understand this.

Add to all of this the report that there were no sprinklers in this building, no smoke alarms sounding when firefighters arrived and a stairway to the second floor that was made of pallets.

How many of these fire traps are in your community?

How do we get rid of them?

How come we never learn this lesson?

Look at these pictures. Reported no fire sprinklers + no smoke alarms + a single makeshift stairwell + loads of "stuff" + people = #rip https://t.co/wC1FKWayUh

— Billy Goldfeder (@BillyGoldfeder) December 3, 2016