OAKLAND (KRON) — What do you do if you’re at a party and an emergency like a fire breaks out?
If you search online, you may find it difficult to find an answer to that question.
In response to the Oakland Ghost Ship warehouse fire, where 36 people lost their lives, a local group says it wants people to be prepared.
A group of artists and events producers have come together to quickly create a safety video for improvised venues.
“In Oakland, we just had a fire that killed dozens of friends, community members, and artists,” event manager Andrew Ward said.
“My first reaction was a human reaction and that was this was a community of people and the loss of life was really tragic,” fire safety professional Joseph Pred said.
“It occurred to me that a lot of people don’t know much about fire safety, and I looked online, and there weren’t many videos showing how to be safe in case of a fire, so I wanted to create one,” video producer Michael Morgenstern said.
The 4-minute video is aimed at those putting on an improvised venue event to do so in a safe manner.
“Candles with fabric nearby may look very beautiful but can be a disaster,” Ward said in the safety video.
“As people who are heading up communities and creating events for our communities to just make the overall experience safer,” Ward said.
Morgenstern says he hopes the safety message will get out there.
“What we’re hoping is people see it now, bookmark it, and in six months, when they’re throwing a party a week beforehand, they are watching the video,” Morgenstern said.
But more than fire safety, these producers hope that their effort will spur a conversation to prevent what they see as a move to evict artist communities from other warehouse arts collectives.
“Evictions are not the answer and I hope that city officials and landlords work together so that we are not kicking people into the streets,” Ward said.
Here is a link to their website & video: http://www.partyfiresafety.com/ // https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGkpVjNqTbY
