OAKLAND FIRE REPORT FROM THE SCENE - Page 6

sidsmom · ‎11-25-2011

This was one of the first comments I read about the owner.

I knew right then something didn't smell right:

"The second floor had two exits, both reached by wooden stairs, she said, adding she believes it also had smoke detectors."

You 'BELIEVE?"

It's your property, lady.

Why is there wiggle room with your statement?

"Yes, officer, we had smoke detectors. Here's the paperwork of the installation locations & dates of inspection". That's what a law-abiding owner would say.

Noel7 · ‎03-09-2010

@sidsmom wrote:
This was one of the first comments I read about the owner.
I knew right then something didn't smell right:

"The second floor had two exits, both reached by wooden stairs, she said, adding she believes it also had smoke detectors."

You 'BELIEVE?"
It's your property, lady.
Why is there wiggle room with your statement?

"Yes, officer, we had smoke detectors. Here's the paperwork of the installation locations & dates of inspection". That's what a law-abiding owner would say.

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Yeah, she's a real piece of work @sidsmom

From what I've heard, there were NO exits on the second floor except for the makeshift stairs down. The entire second floor was said to be makeshift and that's where the party was held. It collapsed and pancaked down to the first floor.

Noel7 · ‎03-09-2010

@SahmIam wrote:

And the slumlord, er... landlord...er...OWNER of the building claims she knew absolutely NOTHING about ANY of this going on in HER building. No, her WAREHOUSE which was zoned for ONLY STORAGE of ITEMS. Wow. Just.....wow.

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@SahmIam is right on.

"Property records show Ng is linked to 17 other properties in the Bay Area, either individually or through a trust.

One of those buildings on San Francisco’s Lombard Street houses apartments and a dry cleaning business. Last year city inspectors noted violations involving cracked walls and loose ceilings. Those violations were later corrected."

"The City of Oakland received four complaints since 2011 about another property owned by Ng in the city’s Chinatown District. Three of the complaints involved graffiti. The other had to do with sewer waste leaking from the building, which houses a restaurant, onto adjacent properties. The most recent complaint came this summer."

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/Family-of-Woman-Who-Owns-Oakland-Warehouse-Sends-Condolence...

sidsmom · ‎11-25-2011

Here's an ariel shot of the structure.

I read this type of Firefighter call was a 'widow maker'.

Meaning the structure was so weak it could collapse

on the firefighters at any given moment.

Reports said there were RVs within the structure.

You can see a RV in the middle-left of the picture.

The structure is much bigger than I originally thought.

Noel7 · ‎03-09-2010

Leaking sewer waste in a building with a restaurant.

Noel7 · ‎03-09-2010

@sidsmom

There were reports people were living in the RVs parked inside on the first floor.

sidsmom · ‎11-25-2011

@Noel7

Do you know what the businesses where next to the Ghost Ship?

SahmIam · ‎04-16-2010

People must remember that this was a WAREHOUSE; a storage facility. It would have had doors large enough to drive trucks into in order to unload palettes, boxes, cargo. Windows are not required for a WAREHOUSE. Toilets, sewage systems are not required for a WAREHOUSE unless it holds produce, has a refrigeration system, etc. A WAREHOUSE is NOT a place where PEOPLE LIVE. This is why a WAREHOUSE isn't required to have safety features in place that are required in apartments, etc. where people DO LIVE.

She had a contract with the POS for $5000 A MONTH. I would love to see the lease and what it stipulates as to the purpose of the rental and what his intent was on renting it. I know of NO landlord that doesn't snoop around/make sure of what is going on on their property. SLUMLORDS, however......all they care about is the money.

The contract between the two of them is something the court will be interested in; you can see how this slumlord could walk away without being held legally responsible depending on the terms of the lease. You could see the POS walk away from any charges due to legalities of renting to people who knew it wasn't a rental property but were desperate to live somewhere.

Just because we believe the law should be fair and justice should be served, does NOT mean it is or will be. That's the odd thing about the law.

Noel7 · ‎03-09-2010

@sidsmom wrote:
@Noel7
Do you know what the businesses where next to the Ghost Ship?

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@sidsmom

No, I haven't heard anything mentioned about it. From the photos I saw earlier, I assume they are additional warehouses.

I do know that others in the same area complained of the Ng place several times, but it wasn't reported who specifically complained.

Noel7 · ‎03-09-2010

@SahmIam wrote:
People must remember that this was a WAREHOUSE; a storage facility. It would have had doors large enough to drive trucks into in order to unload palettes, boxes, cargo. Windows are not required for a WAREHOUSE. Toilets, sewage systems are not required for a WAREHOUSE unless it holds produce, has a refrigeration system, etc. A WAREHOUSE is NOT a place where PEOPLE LIVE. This is why a WAREHOUSE isn't required to have safety features in place that are required in apartments, etc. where people DO LIVE.

She had a contract with the POS for $5000 A MONTH. I would love to see the lease and what it stipulates as to the purpose of the rental and what his intent was on renting it. I know of NO landlord that doesn't snoop around/make sure of what is going on on their property. SLUMLORDS, however......all they care about is the money.

The contract between the two of them is something the court will be interested in; you can see how this slumlord could walk away without being held legally responsible depending on the terms of the lease. You could see the POS walk away from any charges due to legalities of renting to people who knew it wasn't a rental property but were desperate to live somewhere.

Just because we believe the law should be fair and justice should be served, does NOT mean it is or will be. That's the odd thing about the law.

**************************

That's all true. We must also remember Ng claimed no one was living there when we now know that's been going on for at least two years. Ng also claimed the other day that there were two exits from the second story, which would imply she knew about the makeshift second story and she lied about the exits. I say she lied based on several other reports on the fire saying the only exit was the staircase which burned and collapsed.

Of course, let me reiterate that early facts are not always correct.