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LEFT WING LOONS Title: Oakland fire ... City missed signs of looming disaster --- at Ghost Ship Oakland fire: City missed signs of looming disaster at Ghost Ship Rodolfo Aguirre places candles in a makeshift memorial for the fire victims of "Ghost Ship" converted warehouse at the corner of Fruitvale Avenue and International Boulevard in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. "I didn't lose anybody," Aguirre said, "We are all mourning. We are all brothers. Rest in Peace." As of today, 36 bodies have been found and the number of victims is expected to rise. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) By Thomas Peele tpeele@bayareanewsgroup.com, Robert Solanga and David DeBolt ddebolt@bayareanewsgroup.com PUBLISHED: December 5, 2016 UPDATED: December 6, 2016 OAKLAND — City and county officials missed at least 10 chances to flag dangers at the Ghost Ship art collective that might have led to Friday night’s inferno in which at least 36 people died, according to documents and interviews. Update: Oakland warehouse fire Sunday 3pm Officials also declined to say Monday when the building last underwent a fire inspection. Most cities have routine yearly fire inspections of commercial properties, said Eric Dutton, executive director of the California Fire Chiefs Association. And many departments in the state do them more frequently. A Bay Area News Group analysis of city, county and court records and police documents, along with interviews with investigative experts, strongly indicates that glaring dangers at the warehouse on 31st Avenue were either tacitly or willfully ignored by the building owner and the people running the artist collective, and by city employees often called there for everything from fistfights to garbage outside. Officials from various agencies were no strangers to the Ghost Ship over the years, leaving plenty of opportunities for the fire and safety dangers to be detected. Police responded to fights and reports of stolen property; code inspectors cited everything from tall weeds to mounds of garbage to structures being built inside the warehouse; and state workers temporarily took the three children of the couple running the collective away because of fears for their safety. The warehouse — with little separate dwelling units on the first floor and a staircase made of scrap wood leading to a cluttered, furniture filled second floor where dance parties were held — was roundly called a deathtrap by some survivors and others familiar with the building. A retired Contra Costa firefighter said he was outraged that the city did not act to shut down the cooperative over the obvious code violations. “Any professional firefighter, regardless of rank, would have recognized the deadly threat that this building represented and did everything possible to shut it down,” John Stiglich wrote in an email. Fire companies are responsible for knowing the hazards that exist in their own areas, Stiglich wrote: “Something should have come from this level and proceeded without delay.” Farzaneh Farsoudi, a relative of Sara Hoda, 30, a teacher at the Urban Montessori Charter School in Oakland who died in the blaze, said it was tragic that the fire department didn’t act. It seemed apparent the fire department hadn’t been to the Ghost Ship recently, he said, “because otherwise they would have advised them to have (a) fire extinguisher.” Several fire extinguishers found in the building wreckage were inoperative, officials have said. “If (they) had worked, it may have saved a lot of lives. … It’s very sad,” Farsoudi said. Jake Jacobitz, an electrician who did some work at Ghost Ship and stayed there occasionally, said an electrical wire ran from a neighboring business. When he first arrived at the warehouse, it had only one power outlet and only one exit until he cut a fire door, he said Monday, “You could hear the electrical feed vibrating in the pipe, it was so hot,” Jacobitz said. “Everything in there was illegal. (Almena) has been told so many times but he doesn’t care.” Shelley Mack, who lived at the warehouse in late 2014 and 2015, said the police knew of the location and had even been inside the building when they escorted her out as she left after a dispute with Derick Ion Almena, the leader of the collective. Residents were “nice when you get there, but it didn’t take long to know (living there) was a bad idea,” Mack said. Repeated requests Monday for routine city records showing when the building was last inspected for fire safety were denied. Records normally provided over the counter that would show details about code enforcement visits were also not released Monday despite repeated requests. A Bay Area News Group lawyer objected in a letter to the city about the lack of access. Oakland officials were mum on the matter Monday. Mayor Libby Schaaf walked away from a reporter trying to interview her about the visits and how often the fire department inspected the building. In a statement issued Monday night, Schaaf said “initial information (is being) compiled and (we) will be reviewing it with the District Attorney prior to release.” DA Nancy O’Malley is conducting a criminal investigation of the fire. The city’s fire department boasts on its website of “an excellent program” in which firefighters do surprise “field inspections, on a block-by-block basis. Inspections occur at least one time annually. In some instances, high-hazard (buildings) may require additional inspections.” Warehouse owner Chor Ng was well known to the city Code Enforcement office. She faced $15,000 in code enforcement fines attached to her 2013-2014 county tax bill and $7,600 in similar costs in 2009 for the property. In 2007, a notice of a substandard building and special assessment of $15,000 was filed against her. Records also show city taxes on the property were often not paid. Ng could not be reached for comment. A lawyer who has represented her in real estate matters did not return messages. Last month an unidentified code enforcement officer went to the building in response to complaints about piles of garbage. No one came to the door of the collective. The next day, the city started an investigation about apparent illegal structures being built inside the warehouse. But no inspectors returned to follow up before the fire. It was far from the only chance for someone to notice the hazardous conditions. • In March of last year, police responded to a report of a dance party at the warehouse where attendees were paying $25 a head to get in. An officer was reportedly denied entry by a doorman claiming that the location was a private club with members paying monthly dues, records show. The officer left because there was no evidence of a crime. • A tenant dispute in February 2014 also drew the attention of police. Almena was reportedly cited for battery, and another man was arrested, but no charges came out of the encounter. Officers didn’t enter the building. • On Jan. 13, 2015, Almena was arrested on suspicion on possession of stolen property at the warehouse. According an Alameda County Sheriff’s Office probable-cause document, a woman named Farrah Dalal flagged down a passing Alameda sheriff’s deputy and said Almena had stolen her trailer and she had tracked it to the 31st Avenue site. Dalal, who claimed Almena was her former tenant, had performed a citizen’s arrest of Almena, and Deputy Jeremy Lucha arrested him and booked him into a county jail. In his report, Lucha stated that Almena confessed to having the trailer “for about a week.” It was unclear from the report if Lucha entered the warehouse or arrested Alemna in the vacant lot next to it. Almena spent two days in jail and agreed to plead no contest to a lesser misdemeanor charge of possessing stolen property. He was sentenced to three years’ probation and was ordered to pay restitution. • In February 2015, the Alameda County Child and Family Services Department was called to the warehouse and took custody of Almena’s three children out of safety concerns about them living there, according to a court document. Almena also later posted on Facebook that it had happened but blamed a tenant for “fake accusations.” The children were later returned to Almena and his wife. The department director didn’t return a message Monday. Sara Huntley, who lost a friend in the fire, and whose partner left the collective earlier this year, said the conditions there were frightening. “I begged my partner to move out to find some other place,” she said. “I just knew that if things didn’t change that place would have a terrible thing happen as a result of neglect and people looking the other way.” Poster Comment: If teaching some a the cps all Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 1.
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