The Sub Burndown

Saturday December 26, 2015



Section 1
- The Sub Fire -


6 Minutes With The Arsonist
Incendiary #1 — The timeline of initial events that sparked suspicion of arson.
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Fire Investigation Never Done
Cover-up of The Sub Fire started two days later…
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SLO City FD Failure to Evacuate
Clearing the building and ensuring nobody is inside - a crucial step neglected by the SLO City FD.
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No R.I.T. or F.A.S.T Crew Assigned
BC-1 Berryman not only did not assign a R.I.T./F.A.S.T. crew, he put his command post where the fire did eventually burn to…
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The Sub Fire Load & Interior Details
Store inventory and layout tells a different tale...
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Sub Roof Details
The Sub and SDRS had a complete recent earthquake upgrade...to achieve a one-hour Class A roof fire rating.
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Seven Paths To Enter & Fight The Fire At The Sub
The Sub was unique in how many ways it would have been easy to fight a fire.
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Burning A Building Down Is Not Firefighting
You can't put a structure fire out with chainsaws.
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Unknown Incendiary Device #2
Our assertion is that all evidence points to UID #2, having been ignited on top of The Sub.
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See How the Fire Moved Through the Structures

Location of UID #3 on roof.


Unknown Incendiary Device #3 in Square Deal Recordings & Supplies

How did the fire go from The Sub to the front of Square Deal Recordings & Supplies when the fire was out in the portion of The Sub adjoining the front of Square Deal before the fire started in the front of Square Deal?:

This is a "mystery." The only break in the masonry firewall between SDRS and The Sub was into the front office of The Sub. The Sub front office was not involved in either The Sub or SDRS fire!

The only "floor-up" burn patterns, in the whole fire, are by the bathroom door (east end of The Sub office), Sharliss' office door (center of The Sub office) in the front portion of SDRS main building, and where Sharliss' wooden desk used to be (by Higuera Street end of The Sub office) – Sharliss' desk was the only wooden desk and cabinetry that completely burned to ashes [see photo: debris].

Above the "floor-up" burn patterns, on the same side of the roof, is where SLO City FD cut another huge 8'x8' ventilation opening in our roof. At this point, there was no fire in the building to vent, only light smoke. They also cut four large holes at the rear of SDRS on both sides of the roof ridge line [see photo: cutting holes] and on both sides of our interior firewall – with no fire yet into SDRS. They also cut at least three other 2'x6' holes in SDRS main roof facing east [see photo: fire coming through holes].

Noteworthy: Near two different "floor-up" burn patterns there is also a piece of drywall kicked in from the SDRS side into The Sub office from each location. The kick-ins are at "boot-kick" level and about boot-kick size. A 2'x2' piece is also missing by the area near Sharliss' office where the drywall from both sides of the wall lay on The Sub office floor after the fire [see photo: drywall parts on floor] The kick-ins and missing drywall were intact before the fire.

The burn patterns give the impression that the fires were lit with a flammable agent and the kicked-in drywall was in an attempt to spread the fire into The Sub office so it would appear that through the office was how the fire spread to SDRS.

If the fire had not magically blown up in front of SDRS [see photo: fire plume], the fire burning along the back would have taken another day to burn forward against the wind to destroy the main building. It would have had to burn through a 20-minute firewall, 16' from back of building as well. It would have been hard for SLO City FD leadership to explain their inactivity and letting it all burn. The Tribune's actual drone photos show the fire in late afternoon stalled at the firewall and SLO City FD using their hoses to add air just in front of where the fire is burning on the actual undersides of the roof. This adds air to the fire without putting water on the fire.

We believe they cut the large holes in the front of SDRS hoping to draw the fire from the back into the front of the building, (no fire in front of SDRS when the holes were cut), to finish the burn down. Due to prevailing winds, their openings had the opposite effect and acted as to supply ventilation, thereby providing air, and retarding the fire from burning forward. After two or more initial firebombs and over two hours of burning our buildings, it's not a great leap to add accelerant (the three bottom up burn patterns) to finish the burndown that "someone" had already committed to doing, probably before "someone" even arrived.


Section 2
- Square Deal Recordings & Supplies (SDRS) Fire -


The Sub Office Fire Proves Fire Did Not Come into Front of SDRS from The Sub through the Firewall Between the Two Businesses

The Sub/ SDRS Corp.© stands to prove the fire did not come into front of SDRS through the firewall of The Sub
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Unknown Incendiary Device #3 in SDRS

How did the fire go from The Sub to the front of Square Deal Recordings & Supplies when the fire was out in the portion of The Sub adjoining the front of Square Deal before the fire started in the front of Square Deal?
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SDRS Fire Load Notes

The SLO City FD leadership has repeatedly stated we had a huge fire load at Square Deal Recordings & Supplies. This is relatively untrue and totally untrue from the perspective of the two hours they had to stop the fire that was not yet in our building or prevent it from entering Square Deal.
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11 Basic Stop Points for Preventing Fire Spread into SDRS from Rear

11 basic stop points for preventing fire spread into Square Deal Recordings & Supplies from the rear (Pismo Street)
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Hole Map Illustration

Holes cut by members of SLO City FD and incendiary devices placed by unknown person(s)
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Section 3
- San Luis Obispo City Fire Department (SLO City FD) Issues -


SLOCF Fire Calls 2009-2016
History of success rate in San Luis Obispo fires.
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SLOCF Press Release Corrections
These are what we believe to be factual corrections to SLOCF Chief Garret Olson's press release…
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Bravest Act or a Cowardly, Evil Act?
Cutting holes in roofs is something firemen do but most civilians can't tell...
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Is BC-1 Berryman an Arsonist?
In evaluating the actions of Berryman, we have come to the following realizations...
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Total Destruction is a Job Well Done
Total destruction considered a job well done because no fireman was injured.
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SLOCF Fails to Follow Own Rules
We will state the appropriate rule from the current SLOCF manual and then what SLOCF actually did.
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SLOCF Underground "Burndown" Policy
SLOCF leadership seems to have an underground policy of refusing to go into buildings that are on fire.
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Is SLOCF Corrupt?
While none of these indicators singularly means corruption, a Fire Department guilty of most of these practices is certainly suspect, if not corrupt.
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How Can You Believe…?
Fire departments who fight few fires do not easily gain experience... There are three ways to deal with this…
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Steel top table where fire was lit inside SDRS — notice it's warped edge caused by high heat below the table (accelerant).




Notice the fire has burned below the floor because the accelerant ran down between floor & wall. Notice the "kick-in" from Square Deal into The Sub office.

Section 4
- Comments, Observations and Correction on Narratives by SLO City FD -


Preamble to Narratives
The overall situation with the SLOCF narratives is that they seem to be an attempt to cover up gross negligence, professional malfeasance, and cowardice…
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SLOCF Battalion Chief-A Neal Berryman
Comments, Observations, & Corrections on Narrative by SLOCF Battalion Chief-A Neal Berryman
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SLOCF Deputy Chief Jeff Gater
Comments, Observations, & Corrections on Narrative by SLOCF Deputy Chief Jeff Gater
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SLOCF Chief Garret Olson
Comments, Observations, & Corrections on Narrative by SLOCF Chief Garret Olson
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SLOCF Captain Michael King
Comments, Observations, & Corrections on Narrative by SLOCF Captain Michael King
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SLOCF Captain Mark Vasquez
Comments, Observations, & Corrections on Narrative by SLOCF Captain Mark Vasquez
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SLOCF Captain Matt Callahan
Comments, Observations, & Corrections on Narrative by SLOCF Captain Matt Callahan
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SLOCF Captain-Paramedic Station 3A David Marshall
Comments, Observations, & Corrections on Narrative by SLOCF Captain-Paramedic Station 3A David Marshall
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Section 5
- Case Studies (Pattern of Conduct): -


Atascadero St. Fire
Documentary of the 2016 Atascadero Street Fire
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Cabo San Luis Fire
Preliminary notes on the Cabo San Luis Fire
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Johnson Ave. Fire
Case study of 2012 fire at 1502 Johnson Avenue
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672 Branch St Fire
There are two realities on this fire; the version told by SLO City FD and the version told by the victims
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3001 Bahia Court (Alrita-Bahia) Fire
No firefighter entered until 35 minutes after discovering a victim was trapped inside; audio confirms… See more →
SLO City FD Target Hazard List
All buildings appear to be sprinkled and present limited fire fighter challenge. No small/medium-sized private businesses listed.
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Section 7
SLO City FD Fire Investigation Report


Fire Investigation Report (Incident Number 15-05844)
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Section 9
Firefighting Info


NFPA Firefighter Injury Rate
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SFFD Ventilation Manual
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SLO City FD Emergency Operations Manual
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IAFC Rules of Engagement
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Homeland Security Report on Firefighter Arson
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More of those "highly flammable" LP records that so scared SLO City FD leadership.




This is the area where the fire was started inside Square Deal at approximately 1:15 p.m.




Square Deal front starts on fire more than 30 minutes AFTER the fire has left the adjoining portion of The Sub.




Fire coming from 8'x8' cut draft hole over area fire was started inside Square Deal at around 1:15 p.m.





Steel top table where fire was lit inside SDRS — notice it's warped edge caused by high heat below the table (accelerant).




Notice the fire has burned below the floor because the accelerant ran down between floor & wall. Notice the "kick-in" from Square Deal into The Sub office.

Section 6
- SLO City FD Narratives -


Narrative: Berryman
Original narrative statement made by SLOCF BC-1 Neal A. Berryman
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Narrative: Gater
Original narrative statement made by SLOCF Deputy Chief Gater
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Narrative: Olson
Original narrative statement made by SLOCF Chief OlsonFull Document →
Narrative: King
Original narrative statement made by SLOCF Captain King
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Narrative: Vasquez
Original narrative statement made by SLOCF Captain Vasquez
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Narrative: Callahan
Original narrative statement made by SLOCF Captain Callahan
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Narrative: Marshall
Original narrative statement made by SLOCF Captain Paramedic Stn. 3A Marshall
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Narrative: MacDonald
Original narrative statement made by SLOCF Captain MacDonald
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Section 8
Arson Investigator /Expert Letters


John Kabala
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Clyde George
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Section 10
-Original Unedited Video Material


Fire Test (Raw Footage)