Former tenant: Firefighters visited warehouse years before the fire

OAKLAND » Ghost Ship defense lawyers called four witnesses Thursday to bolster their contention that Oakland fire officials were aware of conditions at the warehouse before the fire that killed 36 people but took no action or raise any concerns.

Prosecutors allege that Derick Almena, master tenant at the warehouse, and his codefendant Max Harris were responsible for the deaths of 36 people who were not able to escape after a fire broke out during a dance party at the Ghost Ship on Dec. 2, 2016, because of a lack of fire sprinklers, fire extinguishers, clear exit paths or lighted exits. Prosecutors also maintain that the fire spread quickly because the warehouse was unsafe, crammed with artwork, furniture, wood and other items.

A former Ghost Ship warehouse tenant testified Thursday that firefighters were inside the warehouse after a 2014 arson fire, contradicting previous testimony from one firefighter.

Olivia Prink was Almena’s first witness, after Harris’ team wrapped up Thursday morning. The two men are charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter in the deaths.

Prink lived inside the warehouse during the Sept. 26, 2014, arson fire, when a couch just outside the Ghost Ship warehouse was set ablaze. Former Oakland Fire Marshal Maria Sabatini testified last month that she investigated the arson fire, but did not go inside the warehouse.

But Prink said Thursday she saw at least three firefighters the morning of the arson fire inside, in the center of the warehouse speaking with Almena for a few minutes, she said. She could not recall if the firefighters were male or female.

This potential contradiction of Sabatini’s previous testimony, who was also one of the main fire investigators of the Dec. 2, 2016, deadly fire, could question the validity of her testimony for the jury. Sabatini has insisted in her testimony in May that she did not see any evidence of arson in the 2016 fire — a theory that the defense has offered as a potential cause of the deadly blaze.

The last witness called by Harris’ defense team was also a firefighter, Oakland Fire Lt. Salvador Garcia. He testified that he attended a 2014 Christmas holiday party at the Ghost Ship warehouse with his wife, who was a teacher at the time at the school one of Almena’s children attended. There for about three to four hours for the potluck party, he was upstairs on the second floor the whole time except when he first entered and left the warehouse.

He said he saw nothing there at the time that made him feel unsafe.

Potential evidence that police and fire department officials were inside the Ghost Ship washhouse before the 2016 fire could help the defense’s case. Both defense teams have shifted blame to the city, maintaining that they knew or should have known about any potential dangers inside the warehouse before the fire, and turned a blind eye or had no concerns.

Harris’ defense also called upon a former tenant of a space used as a hair salon a couple of doors down from the Ghost Ship warehouse. Her space was located on International Boulevard, above a Boost Mobile store. Witness Griselda Ceja said she rented the space from the Ng family, who also own and are the landlords of the Ghost Ship warehouse.

Ceja said she had electrical problems for years at her salon, including electrical outlets that smoked, and the power would go out. She said she tried to speak to the Ngs about it, but they were not very helpful. Ceja also got emotional on the stand when she said she feared for her own safety, knowing that a fire exit in her building was blocked in the business downstairs. She told the Ngs this, even emailing them the fire code, and they didn’t seem as if they cared, she testified.

Another two witnesses were called Thursday afternoon by Almena’s defense team, both friends of Almena. Joe Rodriguez, a childhood friend, said he was present during the September 26, 2014, arson fire, and recalled seeing up to six firefighters inside the warehouse the next day for a pig roast party. He said he recalled them coming in for the party, and taking photos of the place with the camera on their cellphones.

Another witness, Troy Altieri, did some construction work under electrician Ben Cannon. He testified that he helped Cannon replace a transformer for the Ghost Ship itself, and electricity to other buildings.

He, too, said he was staying at the warehouse the day of the couch arson fire, and saw four firefighters enter the building. He said it was two men and two women, although he wasn’t sure. All had on their firefighter gear, he said.

Altieri testified that Almena gave them a tour of the building, and they were in awe. He said he witnessed at least two of them, a man and a woman firefighter, upstairs on the second floor. “They were even dancing,” he said, “boot-scooting around” and “snapping their fingers.”