Oakland: many dead Burned at party

[waltky]

Oakland city inspectors dropped the ball...

Oakland city workers visited warehouse, did not flag fire hazard
Thu Dec 8, 2016 | In the two years leading up to the fire at an Oakland, California warehouse that killed 36 people at a dance party late last week, city officials had entered the building on numerous occasions and had multiple opportunities to see that residents were illegally living there in hazardous conditions.

The Oakland Police Department received dozens of complaints about the warehouse, and went inside at least half a dozen times, according to police reports and accounts from former tenants and visitors. Neighbors and former tenants also say city fire officials were in the building at least twice. Those who spent time in the artists' cooperative known as the "Ghost Ship," say that potential code violations would have been apparent to anyone entering the building, which was not permitted for residence.

A firefighter watches from the roof at the scene of the fatal warehouse fire in Oakland, California​

Living quarters with narrow, winding halls were built from scrap materials, including highly flammable wooden pallets. Nails were exposed, plumbing improvised and a makeshift stairway to the second floor was extremely hazardous, they say. "If you opened the door and stepped even three feet inside it would be grossly apparent to anyone that it wasn't just being used as a warehouse or a workspace," said former Ghost Ship neighbor Ben Acevedo, 45, who estimates he made about 60 calls to police about the property over 16 months to report noise, blight and illegal occupancy.

On Wednesday, amid questions about why the city did not act to shut down the warehouse, an Oakland official said that code enforcement personnel had not entered the building in 30 years. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said she did not know the last time fire inspectors had gone inside. She did not mention police visits, but said the city would launch a new effort "to clarify the responsibility of city employees to properly report any observations of dangerous living conditions or illegal events."

LIFE IN THE GHOST SHIP

 

[ChrisL]

Horrible. Reminds me of The Station nightclub fire.

 

[waltky]

Master tenant Derick Almena and his second-in-command arrested for fire...

Two Arrested in Deadly Calif. Warehouse Fire
June 6, 2017 - Ghost Ship master tenant Derick Almena and his second-in-command, Max Harris, were arrested Monday and charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter in conjunction with the Dec. 2 Ghost Ship fire that killed three dozen people.

Alameda County prosecutors found the pair hoarded flammable materials from floor to ceiling in the warehouse, created an illegal party space, and even blocked one of only two exits from the second floor the night of the fatal fire. “The paying guests at the event were faced with a nearly impossible labyrinth of the defendants’ making to get out of that building,” said District Attorney Nancy O’Malley at a news conference Monday. “Almena and Harris’ actions were reckless and they created the high risk of death.” Prosecutors announced the arrests a little more than six months after the inferno but declined to speak about whether others, including warehouse landlord Chor Ng, will face criminal charges. Friends and families of victims on Monday called for Ng to be charged, blaming her for owning a building many called a “deathtrap.”

In court documents, Alameda County district attorney investigator Cristina Harbison said Almena held the lease for the warehouse and lived inside illegally, encouraging his subtenants to create living spaces with “nonconventional building materials,” such as wooden sculptures, pianos and furniture. O’Malley said Almena and Harris “very purposefully allowed floor-to-ceiling quantities of highly flammable materials … that created a deadly and dangerous space.” O’Malley said. Almena, 47, also advertised the space for three years as a music venue and social gathering place without permits, Harbison wrote. Once he began using the warehouse to host parties, he was obligated to install proper fire prevention systems. Witnesses also told investigators he was repeatedly warned about the dangers, but failed to act, Harbison wrote.

View of the outside of the scorched Ghost Ship warehouse building in Oakland, Calif. on Monday, Dec. 12, 2016. The Dec. 2 fire tore through the two-story building on the 1300 block of 31st Avenue killing 36 people.​

The investigator released the first details about the fire’s origin, saying it started in the northwest corner of the first floor of the warehouse, but because there was so much damage the “exact cause is undetermined.” Almena was arrested in Lake County, while Harris, also known as Max Ohr, was arrested in Los Angeles County on Monday morning without incident, DA spokeswoman Teresa Drenick said at an afternoon news conference in Oakland. In an initial court appearance, a Lake County judge set bail at $1.8 million. Almena, with his signature goatee, sat shackled in court wearing a white-and-green striped jumpsuit over an orange short-sleeved shirt, answering “No,” when a judge asked him if he had any questions. The short appearance ended with the judge saying Almena would need to be returned to Alameda County within five days.

On the jail website, Almena’s home address was listed as Upper Lake and he listed his profession as “set designer/stage build.” Harris was booked into Los Angeles County jail and held on $1 million bail. He did not make a court appearance. If convicted on all 36 charges, Almena and Harris each face up to 39 years in prison, Drenick said. Almena and Harris are also defendants in civil lawsuits filed on behalf of the fire victims. DA O’Malley told reporters Almena and Harris “knowingly created a fire trap.” Court documents also revealed that 27-year-old Harris planned the party Dec. 2 and in his preparation blocked off one of two exits from the second floor, which “effectively reduced the upstairs guests to a single point of escape” down the makeshift front staircase made of wood pallets. Harbison said Harris was Almena’s “creative director,” collecting rent, mediating disputes among tenants and acting as an intermediary between Almena and the building owners.

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