Jul 13 2009 written by Michael Biven photography Lane Hartwell
You might be wondering why the Oakland Fire Department had the entrance closed to Sand By The Ton at American Steel if you had already made it inside or were turned away Saturday night. Their reason for doing so was completely reasonable, but it could have been avoided.
Sand By The Ton
Jul 13 2009 written by Michael Biven photography Lane Hartwell
- An unidentified woman dances at the Sand by the Ton event at the American Steel building on Saturday, July 11, 2009 in Oakland, Calif. (Photographer/Lane Hartwell)
- A larger than life sculpture by artists Dan Das Mann and Karen Cusolito greets partygoers to the "Sand by the Ton" event on Saturday, July 11, 2009 at the American Steel Building in Oakland, Calif. (Photographer/Lane Hartwell)
- Essay Tsegay displays his cat makeup at "Sand by the Ton" on Saturday, July 11, 2009 at the American Steel Building in Oakland, Calif. (Photographer/Lane Hartwell)
You might be wondering why the Oakland Fire Department had the entrance closed to Sand By The Ton at American Steel if you had already made it inside or were turned away Saturday night. Their reason for doing so was completely reasonable, but it could have been avoided.
Arriving at the event that night we could already see an Oakland Fire Department engine at the entrance. And after parking the car we walked up to find a small line of about 60 or so people who were trying to figure out where to pick up their tickets. A guy in a white shirt, vest and a hat was jumping around with a bullhorn yelling "If you are here for will call get out of the long line and walk over here". We walk over to the booths to get our tickets and finally our wristbands.
After getting inside we were immediately hit with the sounds and lights from the two stages within earshot of the entrance (there were another two stages farther back in the space). Walking down towards the midway, the size of the crowd increased along with the smell of pot and body odor. Several people were stopped, standing around in the middle of the walkway when a large brute of a fireman started yelling at the crowd to get moving and stop blocking the area - later this would prove to be an issue.
Towards the end of the midway we entered the VIP area which had the Kinetic Steam Works steamboat Wilhelmina suspended from the ceiling. She had encountered damage to some of the steam pipes earlier after a trip back from her voyage on the Hudson River and was restored using funds from Sand By The Ton.
Later, back at the entrance we find that the fireman had shut it down with hundreds of people wanting to get in crowded up against a line of several black t-shirted security guards holding hands. The fireman who shut it down was the same brute from earlier and was now explaining to the organizers what he wants to happen with enough intensity that his veins were throbbing on his forehead and neck. Discussions back and forth between the event organizers and the brute led to calls for volunteers from the organizers to try and control the entrance, because they were planning on letting in some additional people - people who had wristbands.
After another walk through to see the third sand sculpture, the other two stages and the bordello we start walking back towards the entrance to call it a night. When we walked out the main entrance there were still close to a hundred people being held back, waiting to get in even after being told earlier that is it - this door is closed.
Now the city might seem like they are being a bit overzealous enforcing the codes, but they have good reason to do so:
- December 1979 Who concert in Cincinnati, Ohio 11 fans were crushed to death
- March 1990 The Happy Land Social club fire in NYC 87 people killed in a fire
- February 2003 Great White at The Station nightclub in Warwick, R.I. pyrotechnic fire kills 96
Walking around that night there were no visible exit signs or emergency lighting. If anything would have spooked the crowd or if a real emergency had taken place there were plenty of issues that could have created a horrible outcome. From what I saw, I have doubts that the Fire Department actually came out and took measurements of the space to determine the occupancy load and that the event was over sold on tickets.
There were half a dozen Oakland Police Officers standing across the street from the front entrance and we saw a few times the fire engine leave only to return shortly afterwards. While it is not clear to me if the event had obtained the necessary permits and to what level of communication the Fire Department had while the event was being setup, but I saw enough that makes me believe the FD did very little to educate and / or enforce the building and fire codes at the events location prior to that night. Ideally the city would have been proactive in explaining it's requirements to the organizers rather than only to react tying up resources that could be used elsewhere. Last month we saw the same thing from the City of Oakland when they tried to shutdown the East Bay Rats fight party by having the street out front of the party closed off until midnight. Again tying up several OPD officers that I'm sure had better things to do. Funny thing was while walking up to the fight party we could hear an illegal sideshow somewhere close by in the neighborhood.
This isn't to say that events like Sand By The Ton shouldn't take place. They bring unique events to the East Bay, business to some of the local performers and vendors and provides funding to many of the local artists like in the case of Kinetic Steam Works. What it does say is that both the city and the organizers have work to do to keep these events as safe as possible so everyone can have a good time without keeping the understaffed and under budgeted emergency services of Oakland busy.
Note - I was a fireman for six years at St. Matthew's Fire District outside of Louisville, KY. During two of those years I was also one of the fire inspectors for the district.
- A throng of people try to make their way through the midway section of the Sand by the Ton event at the American Steel building on Saturday July 11, in Oakland, Calif. (Photographer/Lane Hartwell)
- The Extra Action Marching Band perform at "Sand by the Ton" on Saturday, July 11, 2009 at the American Steel Building on Oakland, Calif. (Photographer/Lane Hartwell)
- Security guards form a physical barrier to close off the entrance to the American Steel Building while ticket holders hope to gain entry to the Sand by the Ton event on Saturday, July 11, 2009 in Oakland, Calif. The building had reached maximum capacity and Oakland Fire Department officials shut down further entry. (Photographer/Lane Hartwell)