Ghost Ship was a ‘death trap, new suit claims
In the latest legal action against the owner and operators of Oakland’s Ghost Ship, lawyers for the family of one of the 36 people who perished in a fire at the warehouse in December invoked the two words that have become all too familiar to the loved ones of the dead: “death trap.”
A lawsuit, filed March 24 in Alameda County Superior Court by the Los Angeles law firm Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman, charges that a confluence of avoidable circumstances killed Edmond Lapine II and the others in the Dec. 2 fire.
The suit seeks unspecified damages on behalf of Lapine’s father, Bob Lapine. The younger Lapine, who grew up in Utah, loved all things about music — playing, listening and just jamming — his father told The Chronicle.
“Using specific numbers regarding the loss of someone’s family is almost an impossible task,” said Timothy Loranger, one of the family’s lawyers.
An Oakland resident, Lapine, 34, was grooving at a music event inside the Ghost Ship warehouse, with its exposed wiring, juryrigged electrical system and handmade rickety wooden staircase, when the fire broke out late in the evening.
His body was found inside the building two days later.
Like more than half a dozen others, the complaint alleges that Derick Ion Almena and his wife, Micah Allison, as well as building owner Chor Ng, were well aware of the fire hazards inside the Ghost Ship and did nothing about them.
Almena and Allison could not be reached for comment, and an attorney for Ng did not immediately return a request for comment.
The suit also names an event promoter, the performer playing at the warehouse the night of the blaze and representatives of a business next door that shared electricity with occupants of the Ghost Ship.
The 10,000-squarefoot interior of the Ghost Ship, which “contained a maze of makeshift rooms, alcoves and partitions,” lacked adequate prevention mechanisms like overheard sprinklers and sufficient smoke alarms, the lawsuit alleges.