Nearly four years have passed since a fire claimed 36 lives in Oakland warehouse venue Ghost Ship. 32 of the victims have now reached a settlement with the city totaling $32.7 million.
On July 17th, 2020, The City of Oakland, California agreed to pay out $23.5 million to victims’ families. An additional $9.2 million will go to Sam Maxwell, who survived the incident with injuries that will drastically affect his quality of life. Investigation by The Mercury News found that police had made multiple visits and knew of the space’s hazardous conditions.
“The lawsuit has always been focused on holding those responsible, accountable. The magnitude of the loss for each of these families is immeasurable,” said Paul Matiasic, an attorney representing five of the families. “Justice for the victims of this preventable tragedy has served as the guiding force behind my clients’ efforts to seek redress in a court of law.”
Derick Almena, the leaseholder of the Ghost Ship warehouse, is set to face a retrial this October. He was not convicted of any of the 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter in what a judge declared a mistrial on account of three jurors being replaced during the proceedings.
Almena and Max Harris, who was also involved with events at the warehouse, would have been sentenced to nine and six years in prison, respectively.
Four of the victims’ lawsuits against the City of Oakland remain ongoing at the time of writing.
