The manager of the Ghost Ship Arts Collective, located inside an Oakland warehouse that burned down over the weekend—killing at least 36 people—reportedly disregarded fire hazard warnings.
Fire officials who are investigating the deadly blaze told ABC News that the fire doesn’t appear to be arson, but criminal charges might be in order.
Derick Ion founded the Ghost Ship Arts Collective and ran it out of the warehouse, serving as a work and live-in space for artists in the region. Those who used to live in the warehouse told ABC affiliate KGO-TV that police and fire officials had even warned him about a potential fire hazard at the building, but he allegedly didn’t do anything about it.
Ion, in a Facebook post, wrote about his losses. “Confirmed. Everything I worked so hard for is gone. Blessed that my children and Micah were at a hotel safe and sound. It’s as if I have awoken from a dream filled with opulence and hope...to be standing now in poverty of self worth,” he wrote, referring to his wife, Micah, according to local media reports.
Some criticized Ion for not focusing on the dozens of people who died in the fire, but for instead focusing on his non-fatal personal losses.
According to the East Bay Times, Ion—whose full name apparently is Derick Ion Almena—had written a lengthy screed in which he talked about “addiction” on Facebook.
