Judge orders Derick Almena, Max Harris to trial for Ghost Ship deaths

© Jose Carlos Fajardo, TNS View of the outside of the scorched Ghost Ship warehouse building in Oakland, Calif., on December 12, 2016. The blaze tore through the two-story building on the 1300 block of 31st Avenue, killing 36 people. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group/TNS)

The two men who ran Ghost Ship will face a trial on 36 counts each of involuntary manslaughter after an Alameda County Superior Court judge determined Thursday that there’s enough evidence following a preliminary hearing.

Max Harris and Derick Almena are accused of creating a firetrap at the Ghost Ship warehouse in Oakland’s Fruitvale district. Prosecutors allege the men leased the space for an electronic music show that drew dozens of partygoers — 36 of whom were trapped in the burning building, which was not permitted for shows or residency and had no sprinklers, fire escapes or marked exits.

The decision by Judge Jeffrey Horner to hold Harris and Almena for trial came after the last witness in the preliminary hearing, a fire official, testified about whether the city had previously been alerted to dangers inside the converted warehouse.

Fire Marshal Miguel Trujillo testified that Oakland has no record of a report that a fire captain said he sent to the Fire Prevention Bureau raising fire safety concerns at Ghost Ship two years before the deadly Dec. 2, 2016 blaze.

Trujillo’s testimony came two days after Oakland Fire Captain George Freelen testified that he sent a one-page report to the department’s Fire Prevention Bureau in 2014 to get clarity on what the building was supposed to be used for after he and three other firefighters visited Ghost Ship in 2014 and grew concerned about the “high fire load” of material stocked inside the artist collective.

Trujillo told the court that after the fire “the first thing that we did in our office” was to check to see whether anyone had alerted Fire Preventionto problems inside Ghost Ship.

He said he “specifically asked” a district inspector to go through each file at the fire station, the office and the online database management system directly after the fire, but there was no report matching the one Freelen testified about in court Tuesday.

Tony Serra, an attorney representing Almena, said outside court the firefighters were well aware of the building but gave his client “a pass.”

“It’s lost,” Serra said of the referral. “We attribute it to the fact that the local fire department was very friendly with our client… wanted to give him a pass.”

The warehouse had violated multiple fire codes when people began living there despite it’s classification as an “S2” building under the fire code — which is a space allowed to store various commodities where people are not allowed to reside.

As the “occupant load increases,” there are additional requirements for fire safety at a building, Trujillo testified. Under Oakland’s fire code, a live/work space is required to have sprinklers, an automatic fire system, illuminated exit signs, and back up power in case of a blackout. The warehouse had not complied with these regulations, Trujillo said.

The defense sought to establish whether it was the owner’s or occupants’ responsibility to make necessary changes as the usage of the warehouse changed.

“Can you agree with me that under the code — that’s the responsibility of the owner?” Serra, an attorney representing Almena, asked Trujillo.

“We consider multiple responsible parties,” Trujillo said, adding that occupants and others are included.

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com