Toll mounts in rave blaze
Oakland club boss mourns – his art – as blaze toll hits 33
The man who organized an illegal artists colony in the Oakland, Calif., warehouse where a blaze killed at least 33 people sparked outrage Sunday when he whined about his lost artwork instead of noting the terrible loss of life.
“Confirmed. Everything I worked so hard for is gone,” artist Derick Ion Almena griped on Facebook after Friday’s inferno tore through an illegal concert in the converted warehouse.
“It’s as if I have awoken from a dream filled with opulence and hope . . . to be standing now in poverty of self worth,’’ Almena added — as emergency crews continued searching for signs of life amid the rubble and hopes of finding any dwindled.
Former tenants identified Almena, 46, and his wife, Micah Allison, 40, as the operators of the ware, which was converted into an llegal multifamily dwelling.
Scores of people immediately slammed Almena online for fretting about his artwork when so many lives had been lost.
“You self absorbed narcissistic piece of s- -t. F- -k all your artsy fartsy material bulls- -t, people have died and you are responsible, let that [sink] in,” one wrote.
Another added, “That place was a death trap and he will pay 4 what happened to those people.”
Almena ran the Satya Yuga Collective, a group of artists and mu- sicians who had lived in the building and displayed their work and held events there.
The death toll at the site — which locals called the “Ghost Ship” — reached 33 on Sunday, with grim expectations that the figure would continue to rise.
“We have no idea how many people were in the building that night,” Sgt. Ray Kelly of the Alameda County Sheriff ’s Office said Sunday evening. “We don’t even know how many people got out of the building. We’re expecting the worst and hoping for the best.”
The converted warehouse, in Oakland’s heavily Latino and rapidly developing Fruitvale neighborhood, caught fire at around 11:30 p.m. Friday during an illegal dance party with between 50 and 100 people in attendance, officials said.
When flames first broke out, someone inside actually shouted at others not to call 911, according to one party guest who escaped the flames.
“‘ Don’t call the Fire Department!’ That was the first thing I remembered someone screaming,” partygoer Anya Sapozhnikova told The Daily Mail. “A fire extinguisher was nowhere to be found. The fire kept doubling in size every few seconds.”
A criminal investigation has been initiated by Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley, according to Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.
“That team is on site and working in concert with our other lawenforcement partners,” Schaaf said.
First responders were slowly checking inside the burned-out structure even on Sunday, instead carefully removing debris one bucket at a time, fearing that what was left of the building could collapse at any moment.
Firefighters, from rookies to veterans, were struggling to deal with the gruesome scene, according to officials.
“We have members from our latest class of recruits with two months on the job, and we have members over the course of the night with 30 years on the job. And every one of them has been emotionally impacted by this,” Oakland Fire Battalion Chief Melinda Drayton said, choking back tears.
“It is tragic to watch so many people perish in a fire fatality in front of your eyes and have to be stoic in your job, be professional in your actions, and make sure you are honoring victims and their families to bring them safely out of the building.”
A fire official involved in the search effort said the building was like a “labyrinth,” which made it difficult for emergency responders to find victims.
According to officials, the warehouse was not zoned as a residential building, there was no permit for the concert, and there were no sprinklers or smoke detectors inside.
Building inspectors had made two visits to the property less than a month before the fire following a complaint from a neighbor about a buildup of garbage outside, local authorities have said.
Inspectors were unable to get inside both times — first on Nov. 14 and then again three days later.
Darin Ranelletti, Oakland’s interim planning director, said he was unsure why no one followed up on the failed inspection attempts.
DA O’Malley’s office launched a criminal probe Sunday, although details were not immediately provided.
“It is far too early to have suspicions about what caused this fire,” explained Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.