Bay Area grieves Ghost Ship fire victims
NEWS
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Hundreds of people gathered at Oakland's Lake Merritt
Monday for a candlelight vigil to mourn the 36 lives lost in the Ghost Ship
warehouse fire. Photo: Michael Nugent
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Many in the Bay Area are grieving the loss of 36 people,
including three who identified as transgender individuals, who died in a fire at
an Oakland warehouse known as the Ghost Ship. The space, which had reportedly
housed several artists, was the site of an electronic music concert Friday
night, December 2, when a three-alarm blaze erupted at 11:32.
Officials are investigating what led to the fire at the
Fruitvale district warehouse, which had been the subject of complaints as
recently as November.
One of the victims, Cash Askew, 22, of Oakland, was part of
the band Them Are Us Too. Askew recently told journalist Beth Winegarner,
"As a young teenager, I was definitely attracted to goth and new wave in
part because of the androgyny, and that aesthetic gave me a way to explore my
gender expression before I could even come to terms with being
transgender."
Recalling Em Bohlka also known as Em B, 33, of Oakland, the
East
Bay Times reported that Jack Bohlka, Em
Bohlka's father, "said on Facebook that his daughter was transitioning
from a man to 'becoming a beautiful, happy woman.
'She at last was living as she was meant to live. I only
wish she had more time to fully enjoy her life,'" he said.
Scout Wolfcave, a friend of fire victim Feral Pines, 29, of
Berkeley, told the
Times, "For many
of her trans community, Feral was a guide and sister in a world of small joys
and terrible precarity for trans women. Feral was truly committed to empowering
those that the world deems powerless."
Gehno Aviance, 43, a gay San Francisco man who often works
as a DJ, knew many of the people who died in the fire.
In a Facebook exchange with the
Bay Area Reporter
, Aviance said, "I am utterly devastated but
know that it is my higher mission to work through these feelings and live a
life that honors theirs. This means: making more art, helping create
non-corporate safe-spaces for artists and art-lovers to commune, loving myself,
and helping other heal, to name a few."
Aviance recalled three friends in particular.
Amanda Allen Kershaw, a photographer, "was an
incredible human" and "an inspiration to many," he said. She'd
spent this last Thanksgiving at the home of Aviance and his husband.
Another friend was Johnny Igaz, a musician, DJ, producer,
and historian who went by the name Nackt and was "a loud voice for trans
and queer rights," Aviance said.
Igaz was "one of those who knew the roots of the modern
sounds we hear today," he said. The last gig Igaz played before the fire
was Aviance's Say YES! Party, he said.
Chelsea Faith, 33, who was also known as Cherushii, also
DJ'd the Say YES! Party. Faith produced and performed her own music and had a
weekly show at Underground SF called "Run the Length of Your Wildness."
Aviance said she was an "incredible soul and artist.
... Her music was some of the best" he'd heard.
Trans people and many others attended a vigil Monday night,
December 5, in San Francisco's Castro district.
The Reverend Megan Rohrer, who identifies as transgender,
said, "There is a need to create a safe space to mourn and to honor the
transgender people who died in the fire."
Ian Stanford, an Episcopal priest, said, "As a trans
man I want to call out that trans lives matter. Artists matter. Musicians
matter. Children matter. The disabled matter. Mommas matter. All humans
matter."
Sister Merry Peter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
choked back tears as she recalled other times of grief: The mass shooting
earlier this year at the gay Pulse nightclub in Florida; the November victory
of President-elect Donald Trump, who's loaded his administration with people
who are anti-LGBT; and the 1978 assassination of gay civil rights leader Harvey
Milk.
"I just want to be standing with you tonight,"
Merry Peter said. "We were just here in June for Orlando. We were here
night after night after the election. We were here to remember Harvey with
candles and prayers. And now tonight – my heart is breaking that we have
to do it again."
Another vigil Monday night was held at Oakland's Lake
Merritt.
Micah Estrella said, "I lost my brother Chris in the
fire. Knowing he is still with me spiritually is the one thing that has gotten
me through it."
Jessica Jarvis, of Richmond, California, said, "This
has shaken the entire global rave scene. Tragedy brings people together, at
this gathering people are reaching out and hugging strangers."
Officials respond
The Alameda County District Attorney's office has launched a
criminal investigation into the fire, which destroyed the warehouse space at
1315 31st Avenue.
"We are committed to bringing every resource to bear to
determine what happened here and how such a tragic event could have occurred,"
Oakland officials said in a news release. "Our priority is to bring
closure to this tragedy for the victims' families."
Personnel from the Oakland Fire Department; Oakland Police
Department; U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; Alameda County
Sheriff's Office; and other agencies have been working at the scene of the fire
since the weekend.
Many have raised questions about the safety of the building,
which was leased by Derick Ion Almena and reportedly was crammed with pianos, rugs,
artwork, and other objects, and had a problematic electrical system, no
sprinklers, and limited exits. According to media reports, many artists had
lived there over the years even though it wasn't zoned for that use. It doesn't
appear city agencies had done much to address the hazards.
"The last permitted use of the building was as a
warehouse," officials said. On November 13, the city "received
complaints of blight and unpermitted interior construction at the building."
On November 17, officials said, "a city building
inspector visited the property and verified the blight complaint, but could not
gain access to the building to confirm the other complaint regarding
unpermitted construction. This is an ongoing investigation."
Darin Ranelletti, interim director of Oakland's planning and
building department, didn't respond to an interview request.
Aviance, the DJ who lost friends in the fire, said, "I
have many negative feelings come up when I think of how all these deaths could
have been prevented, but I will allow the experts to decide and our justice
system to make a ruling."
David-Elijah Nahmod and Michael Nugent contributed to this
report.
