SF Fire Department busy inspecting buildings following deadly Ghost Ship Fire
SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - San Francisco firefighters have been busy inspecting buildings following Oakland's deadly Ghost Ship warehouse fire.
Since that December 2 fire that killed 36 people, the department has found at least three properties needing repairs and have ordered the tenants to leave.
An apartment building on Minna near 8th Street in the South of Market neighborhood was one of those buildings.
"It was just a bunch of illegal ppl that was loving downstairs and it's like, it's illegal. It's under code and it had so much wires running thru there and it was a fire hazard," said a homeless man who lives in a tent on Minna. He says people had been squatting in the basement of the building.
A resident of the building told us those people have all moved out.
"Safe." [KTVU reporter Henry Lee: Why?] "Because [no more people] in the basement. They move already."
said Jessie Macalino.
Firefighters also issued a notice to vacate at this storefront on Folsom near 5th Street.
The owner declined to comment.
At a 10,000 square-foot upholstery warehouse, a man associated with the business said off camera, the fire department was concerned about things like extension cords and Styrofoam being too close to the walls.
I asked if he believes business is now safe. He told me "it's safer than when they came by."
The fire department told me all three properties have been cooperative and addressing safety issues, including people living or working in unsafe conditions
Tommi Avicolli Mecca of the Housing Rights Committee says some people are risking being displaced because they have nowhere else to go.
"People are living where they can because the rents are so high, and people have no choice. I think we do have to be concerned about how do we keep people in the city, in the places, at the same time we make sure the places are safe."
As these fire inspections continue, tenants rights advocates are hoping for a balance between safety and affordable housing.