Oakland and Ozone

Screenshot of the Oakland Fire

Last Friday night (Saturday afternoon in the Philippines), the whole of California and even the entire US was rocked by a big fire that struck a warehouse in Oakland that was used as a rave party.

A total of 36 people died in that fire which was covered on all Bay Area TV stations the whole day of Saturday until early Wednesday where the search for more bodies ended.

As I was watching the reports of the aftermath of the fire, I couldn't help but compare this Oakland tragedy to that of the Ozone Disco in Quezon City which was razed by a similar inferno in March 1996 that killed 162 people.

And in both fires, the victims were teenagers who just wanted to have fun.

As I mentioned, the Oakland fire involved those who attended a rave party while in the case of Ozone, the victims were celebrating graduation and the start of summer in the Philippines.

Although there were fewer victims in  Oakland compared to Ozone, both incidents are eerily similar.

For one thing, the Oakland warehouse was structurally unfit to hold a party and was the subject of several investigations done by the TV networks where they all revealed that the owner failed to provide the proper safety equipment.

In the Ozone incident, there was only one entrance and exit and the fire started after fireworks exploded -- also similar to what happened in Oakland. Much of the Ozone victims were either burned badly or suffocated.

According to a report from the Philippine news website Rappler, in November 2014, six Quezon City public officials and two board members of the club were found guilty of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. They were sentenced to 6-10 years of jail and were barred from holding public office. The court ruled that the former officials had connived with the private respondents to secure a building permit for the renovation of Ozone Disco.

As you can see in the picture of Ozone, the place was too small to hold a party of this magnitude. Only 100 people can be accommodated inside the place and with 300 people inside, you know that a disaster was waiting to happen.

The Ozone Disco fire scene as it looks now

Right now, the Oakland City government is in the process of determining who should be held accountable for that fire incident even as the whole state of California is mourning over the deaths of the 36 victims.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaff has vowed to prosecute the guilty parties and has ordered a more thorough inspection of other buildings in the city that may also have structural defects.

And it is likely that other buildings here in California, as well as in other states, will also be subjected to similar inspections to make sure such a big inferno doesn't happen again.