Oakland settles Ghost Ship lawsuit for $32.7 million

Dec. 2, 2016, fire at warehouse in East Oakland killed 36 people

OAKLAND » Oakland has reached a $32.7 million settlement with families of 32 of the three dozen victims who perished in the Ghost Ship warehouse fire — the deadliest blaze in the city’s history.

In announcing the settlement Thursday afternoon, the city maintained it’s not liable for the losses of those who died. Instead, the city said it settled the case after taking into account a “cost-benefit analysis” of what a fullblown civil trial might have cost. The city’s insurance coverage is $22 million.

Paul Matiasic, an attorney representing the families of five victims, said money wasn’t the point of the lawsuit.

“The amount doesn’t come close to approximating the loss of loved ones for my clients. The money is insignificant. There’s no amount of money in the world that can bring their loved ones back,” Matiasic said in an interview.

The lawsuit was more to shine a light on Oakland and the failure of its officials to stop an artists collective from illegally occupying the old warehouse, which had been described in a long trial as a fire trap.

The Dec. 2, 2016, fire at the warehouse in

East Oakland killed 36 people, most of whom were there for a dance party. One victim was a resident of the warehouse.

“These people are like wildfire victims. They had to run for their lives through smoke and flames and lost their homes, many of them displaced for a long time,” said attorney Mary Alexander, who represented the families of 13 victims.

Of the $32.7 million settlement, $23.5 million will go to 32 families who sued after their loved ones died in the fire and $9.2 million to Sam Maxwell, who survived the inferno but suffered permanent lifelong injuries and major medical

bills.

The settlement came out to about $734,000 per family.

Although the lawsuit included 12 people who lived at the 31st Avenue Ghost Ship warehouse and escaped the fire, the city has not settled with them, Alexander said.

Sami Long Kopelman, mother of 34-year-old victim Edmond Lapine, said she is pleased Maxwell is receiving that amount, “though I am sure it is only a fraction of what he requires.”

Kopelman wasn’t assuaged by the settlement.

“I am surprised that we are being offered anything at all. Oakland argues they have immunity from such calamities. My son and all victims had lives, and leave memories, for which the

city’s settlement can only be construed as insulting.”

A previous analysis by this news organization revealed that police, fire, public works and building department employees visited the Ghost Ship warehouse and other nearby properties at least 245 times since 1988, mostly after 2007.

“There were hundreds of contacts,” Alexander said. “And they didn’t do anything about it.”

Matiasic said it’s “unfortunate” the city did not admit liability and is not taking accountability for its actions.

The amount is one of the largest settlements in city history.

In 2003, 119 plaintiffs who sued the city over the Riders police misconduct scandal received a $10.9 million settlement — believed

to be largest until now.

Besides the city of Oakland, PG&E and the owners of the warehouse, the Ng family, are also named in the suit. There have not been any announcements regarding the status of claims against those defendants.

Meanwhile, the man charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter was recently let out of jail over concerns that he could be at risk of contracting COVID-19.

The warehouse’s master tenant, Derick Almena, faces a retrial in the criminal case tentatively set for October after a jury couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict in the case.

The jury voted 10-2 for a conviction.

His former co-defendant,

Max Harris, was acquitted of all charges and no longer lives in the state.

In the lease with the Ng family, Almena agreed the warehouse would be used as an art collective. Instead, prosecutors allege he allowed people to live and work there, filling the space from floor to ceiling with pianos, tapestries, wooden furniture and other objects.

All 36 victims died of smoke inhalation.

After Almena signed the lease in November 2013, police officers were frequently called to the warehouse for parties, fights and disturbances.

Several officers had intimate knowledge of the space, going inside on more than one occasion. One officer who went inside a year before the fire noticed the clutter and said, “One spark and it will be all bad,” according to police body camera footage.

Firefighters from Station 13, located around the corner from Ghost Ship, also were called there multiple times, and one firefighter attended a holiday party on the second floor.

Two weeks before the blaze, a city worker arrived to investigate a report of people living there illegally but no one answered the door, so the worker never got inside.

As part of the lawsuit, several city officials gave depositions about what they knew about the warehouse, which was not zoned for housing or to host large events.