US History Blog: Oakland Ghost Ship Fire

The Oakland Ghost Ship fire was caused by faulty electrical wiring in the performance stage. The warehouse did not have any fire sprinklers or smoke alarms and the exits were cluttered, causing confusion when people realized that the smoke was coming from a raging fire and not just smoke machines during the concert, which in the end claimed 36 lives. The fire was able to accelerate so quickly and remained for so long because of all the carpets, pianos, and other junk cluttering up the space, especially the exits. When firefighters entered the blazing building they were unaware of how many people were in there, and how to get around because of all the clutter and maze. In the end, they were not able to find the main staircase, which was undependable to begin with because it was made by the residents in the Ghost Ship. The Ghost Ship used to be a milk processing plant which turned into housing for people and had a performance area on the second floor, where on the night of the fire, there was a concert. The Oakland Ghost Ship fire is similar to the Triangle Factory fire because of the dangerous conditions that the people were in. The triangle factory had bad working conditions, and the ghost ship had all different types of booths, and items by the exits, causing a major fire hazard.