{"id":26035,"date":"2016-12-08T00:01:38","date_gmt":"2016-12-08T08:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/?p=26035"},"modified":"2016-12-08T00:01:38","modified_gmt":"2016-12-08T08:01:38","slug":"ghost-ship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/ghost-ship\/","title":{"rendered":"Oakland’s Ghost Ship — A Vigil"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/a>
A memorial banner, painted by schoolchildren, at the site of the Oakland Ghost Ship warehouse fire that killed 36. Photo by Barbara Newhall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Barbara Falconer Newhall<\/em><\/p>\n

I keep thinking, if only. If only those young people hadn’t decided to party. If only the makeshift stairways of the Ghost Ship had been closer to the exits. If only there had been fire escapes. If only Oakland’s building department had been\u00a0aware of\u00a0this\u00a0warehouse-turned-artists-community and its building code violations.<\/p>\n

If only 36 creative young people — artists, musicians, LGBTQ folks —\u00a0could just please not be dead. But they are. They died in a fire last Friday that broke out during a dance party held at the converted warehouse<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
Crime scene tape cordoned off the site of the\u00a0Ghost Ship fire. The graffiti at the corner of the building is typical of many\u00a0lively Oakland neighborhoods<\/a>. Photo by Barbara Newhall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That’s the trouble with death, of course. It’s irreversible. It happens and you’re gone. Or your dearest dearest is gone. And there’s no helping it.<\/p>\n

Ghost Ship Vigil<\/h5>\n

Small comfort — no, a big one: people care. When I drove over to Oakland’s International Boulevard and the burnt-out Ghost Ship\u00a0warehouse yesterday, the place was crowded with people who were making\u00a0it their business to care. Police and firefighters. Federal investigators. City officials. The media. A chaplain in firefighter gear. People\u00a0from the surrounding Hispanic and African American neighborhoods.\u00a0Friends and strangers bearing flowers and teary love notes.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of people were there. But\u00a036 were not.<\/p>\n

\"Visitors<\/a>
Friends and neighbors stood vigil in the rain yesterday. Photo by Barbara Newhall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
A mourner brought red carnations to an impromptu memorial on International Avenue near the scene of the Ghost Ship fire. Photo by Barbara Newhall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
A letter left at the memorial. “I keep on calling,” it read. “Should I give up?”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
A tribute to Ghost Ship artists. Photos by Barbara Newhall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Chaplain<\/a>
Catholic priest Jayson Landeza met with media at the site of the fire. Photo by Barbara Newhall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"Visitors<\/a><\/p>\n

I keep thinking, if only the makeshift stairways of the Ghost Ship warehouse had been closer to the exits. If only there had been fire escapes . . . .\u00a0Read more.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[1345,653,1833,187,34,1834,1835,1251,1836],"class_list":["post-26035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-my-rocky-spiritual-journey","tag-artists","tag-arts-and-crafts","tag-chaplains","tag-death","tag-dont-miss","tag-ghost-ship","tag-live-work-warehouses","tag-oakland","tag-young-people"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26035\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}