Criminal Charges Filed Against 2 In Ghost Ship Fire

OAKLAND, CA —Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley filed involuntary manslaughter charges today against Ghost Ship warehouse master tenant Derick Almena and tenant Max Harris for the fire at the Oakland warehouse that killed 36 people last December.

O'Malley said at a packed news conference in Oakland that Almena and Harris "knowingly created a fire trap with inadequate means of escape, filled it with human beings, and are now facing the consequences of their deadly actions."

O'Malley said that Almena was arrested this morning in Lake County and Harris was arrested in Los Angeles County. Both have both been charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter and could face up to 39 years in state prison if they're convicted. Almena has been transferred to Santa Rita Jail in Dublin at 7 p.m. Monday. His booking photo is above.

O'Malley said the actions of Almena and Harris "were reckless, creating a high risk of death" and "a reasonable person would have known that acting that way would create such a risk."

Nearly all of the people who died in the blaze on Dec. 2 were attending a dance party on its second floor. A recent lawsuit that was filed on behalf of the families of half of the 36 victims alleged that the warehouse was "a death trap that contained a maze of makeshift rooms, alcoves and partitions" and lacked a safe means of getting out.

Almena's attorney Tony Serra couldn't immediately be reached for comment today. In January, Serra issued a report that he said cast doubt on Almena's culpability for the fire and suggested that the fire originated in
the warehouse next to the Ghost Ship, not the Ghost Ship itself. Several weeks after the fire, Serra said Almena didn't engage in any criminal misconduct and alleged that governmental agencies were responsible for the blaze for not cracking down on code violations at the warehouse.

Timeline
The fire department responded to the structure fire around 11:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, 2016, in the 1300 block of 31st Avenue. A rave was underway; officially, the "Golden Donna 100% Silk 2016 West Coast Tour" was taking place upstairs.

Firefighters were met by flames on three sides of the building. Crews did not hear any smoke detectors going off when they arrived, and the building had no sprinklers. One man who escaped the building said he grabbed a fire extinguisher but couldn't get it to work.

The fire went to three alarms and was quickly declared a defensive fire, meaning it was too dangerous for firefighters to go inside. They sprayed water on the towering flames from aerial ladders and ground level. The building was still smoking at 4:30 a.m., five hours after flames broke out.

Troubling Building History

An Oakland Planning and Building Department official told reporters on Saturday the building was only permitted as a warehouse, not as a live/work space for artists as it was apparently being used. Furthermore, it was only permitted as a single story, not two stories. A fire official on Saturday said the only access to the second story was a "makeshift" staircase made of "wooden pallets." However, Oakland Fire Department Battalion Chief Melinda Drayton said Sunday there were two staircases. She did not elaborate on the second one.

City records show a housing habitability complaint was lodged on Nov. 14, noting an "illegal interior building structure." The status of that complaint is pending.

Furthermore, a music event such as the rave requires a city permit, which would have included an inspection by the fire department to determine occupancy, adequate exits, etc. No such permit was obtained.

The building known as the "Ghost Ship" was an artist's collective. Photos posted on a Tumblr account associated with the building show the structure filled with objects like furniture, art pieces and musical instruments.

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Oakland Fire: 'Ghost Ship' Manager Derick Ion Almena Defends Actions

Ghost Ship Investigation: Oakland Releases City Documents

Oakland Warehouse Fire: Autopsies Underway on 36 Victims

First Lawsuits Filed in Oakland 'Ghost Ship' Warehouse Fire

-Images via Alameda County Sheriff's Office; Bay City News contributed to this report