$32.7M settlement reached in Ghost Ship fire litigation

The city of Oakland agreed to pay $32.7 million to settle lawsuits from a survivor and the families of victims of the 2016 Ghost Ship fire that killed 36 people.

"They turned a blind eye to what they knew was going on in that building," lead plaintiffs' attorney Mary Alexander said.

The deal announced Thursday resolves Oakland's liability in lawsuits on behalf of 33 people killed or injured in the warehouse fire. Their case against the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and the property landlords will proceed.

Sam Maxwell, who survived the blaze and will suffer lifelong injuries, will get $9.2 million, while the families of relatives who died will get $23.5 million.

The city attorney has maintained Oakland is not liable for the fire, and said in a statement that it settled because of legal costs.

"This was a horrific tragedy that deeply impacted every corner of our community," city officials said in a press release. "Mayor [Libby] Schaaf, the City Council, city attorney and city administrator express their deepest sympathies to Mr. Maxwell and the families, whose losses are unimaginable."

In December 2016, an electrical fire ravaged the Ghost Ship warehouse, which had been converted into a living and work space without the proper city permits.

The plaintiffs sued the city for negligence because it didn't shut down the warehouse. In re Ghost Ship Fire Litigation, RG16843631 (Alameda Super. Ct., filed Dec. 23, 2016).

According to the plaintiffs, the property was a fire trap because it received its power from a nearby building through an extension cord, lacked sprinklers, smoke detectors and signs for emergency exits and was packed with flammable materials. The hazardous living conditions were never addressed even though police and fire department officials visited the site multiple times, and the city was notified of the situation, the lawsuits said.

Oakland tried to claim governmental immunity multiple times. It argued that it cannot be sued because it would discourage city workers from inspecting properties out of fear of liability.

"They said it couldn't be done," Alexander said, referring to naming the city as a defendant. She heads Mary Alexander & Associates in San Francisco.

But Alameda County Superior Court Judge Brad Seligman held that Oakland had a duty to protect public safety, citing police officers and firefighters visiting the warehouse on multiple occasions.

"Expanding the immunity beyond inspections would permit a public entity to disregard what it inadvertently learns or observes, thus creating a disincentive to act or report, despite mandatory duties to do so," he wrote.

Despite there being a fire station just a block away, Alexander said Oakland never inspected the property. This was critical, she continued, in the judge's refusal to grant the city immunity.

"There's immunity from doing bad inspections, but it's a mandatory duty they did not meet," she explained.

San Francisco-based attorney Paul Matiasic, representing four of the families, said the case was "never about the money."

"No amount of money can come close to approximating their loss," he said. "For us, it's always been about forging ahead to find some justice for the victims."

A second criminal trial against Ghost Ships' master tenant, Derek Almena, is set for October 2020 in Alameda County Superior Court after a jury could not agree on whether to convict him on 36 counts of manslaughter last September.

Alexander, who represents 14 families of the fire victims, declined to comment on continuing litigation against PG&E and the landlords. State court proceedings are scheduled for January after the utility emerged from bankruptcy in June.

Oakland is still named in lawsuits brought by 12 more people, also represented by Alexander, who lived at Ghost Ship. A trial is set for February.