Defunct Cadillac dealership was being used by 50 homeless, residing in showroom & Sales offices

[Liberal_in_LA]

50 Vallejo squatters displaced as building burns

Friday, April 15, 2011



A fire gutted the defunct Cadillac dealership in Vallejo Thursday, displacing about 50 homeless people who had taken up residence in the showroom and sales offices.

The fire started at about 1 p.m. Wednesday in the former repair shop of Bill Lang Cadillac and Pontiac on Sonoma Boulevard, but firefighters let it burn itself out because, they said, the building was too dangerous to enter.

The flames were finally extinguished around 6 a.m. Thursday, and work crews began demolishing the 1950s-style building a few hours later.

The fire started when sparks from a saw or grinder ignited trash in a garbage can and quickly spread. Vallejo fire spokesman Bill Tweedy said he believes homeless people were sawing metal beams to sell for scrap.

In fact, Tweedy said, the illicit denizens of the abandoned dealership had removed so many of the support beams that firefighters could not enter to douse the flames out of fear that the roof would collapse.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/14/BAJ11J14JS.DTL#ixzz1JbxDblLg

[GKirk]

1. That's an odd looking dealership building

how long ago was it closed?

[Liberal_in_LA]

6. not sure. From the look of it, it's been closed for a few years. In Los Angeles, dealerships are

often weird shaped buildings in the middle of a parking lot.

[KamaAina]

2. Already on it

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=898210&mesg_id=898210

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. Oops. thanks

[leveymg]

3. The only thing missing are derelict unsold GM cars. Welcome to 21st Century America

It's all those bad '70s apocalypse movies mixed in with ads for luxury corporate condominiums and private jets.

Soylent Green meets Roller Ball, or something like that.

[Snoutport]

4. Trickle down economics at their finest!