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“He (Derrick Ion Alemena) is able to charm people, but when they don't go along with what he wants he will threaten people,” said Allison’s father*, Michael Allison.

(Ion-Alemena is married to Micah Allison - so these are the words of Derrick's father in law -- who is also grandparent to the couples' three young children)

Others judged him more gently as a misunderstood eccentric, a “crazy uncle,” who leased the warehouse and sublet it to musicians and artists who couldn’t afford, or didn’t want, a more conventional living space.

“He has kind of childlike characteristics,” said Libby Physh, 25, who lived in the warehouse for about five months in 2014, paying $500 a month for one of the half-dozen trailers parked on the Ghost Ship’s ground floor.

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Neither Almena nor Allison could be reached for comment for this story. But in a disjointed interview on NBC’s “Today” show Tuesday morning, Almena repeatedly expressed sorrow for the 36 lives lost in the fire.

“I’m only here to say one thing: I’m incredibly sorry and that everything that I did was to make this a stronger and more beautiful community and to bring people together,” he said. “People didn’t walk through those doors because it was a horrible place. People didn’t seek us out to perform and express themselves because it was a horrible place.”

When asked if he was accountable, he said, “No, I’m not going to answer these questions on this level. I’d rather get on the floor and be trampled by the parents. I’d rather let them tear at my flesh...”

Almena’s legal battles with some of the tenants and partygoers who visited the Ghost Ship are well-documented, but little is known about his life before he popped up in Oakland’s underground art scene.

Michael Allison said his daughter and Almena both grew up in Southern California and have lived together as wanderers, organizing their lives around Burning Man and other festivals. They had an apartment for a time near MacArthur Park in Los Angeles, where Almena pursued photography and Allison belly danced.

In the early 2000s, when Allison became pregnant with the couple’s first child, they decamped for Mendocino County, where they stayed with one of Almena’s relatives.

Michael Allison said that Almena worked as a marijuana grower, but that he mainly farmed out tasks to other people and didn’t always pay them.

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I feel awful for the victims and their families. My fellow art people: Please, please PLEASE be careful with whom you’re dealing. There are many spin doctors and shysters who try to take advantage like this. Please be careful with your spaces, since many things we work with may be flammable. If something doesn’t feel right, or you think a structure is dangerous, please heed that inner red flag feeling and stay away. =( Any one of us could fall victim to such a person or place. Please be careful.

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[–]RealityIsMyReligion 143 points 2 days ago
I know a lot of people that are members of "communities" like this, and a lot of the seediness seems lost on them. They're not all bad people, but many fail to realize how bad an influence these communities are on them.

This "bohemian" lifestyle is romanticized as a trendy way for artists and the like to live. Unfortunately, pretty much every one of these "communities" has an underbelly of hard drug use, extreme alcoholism and unsafe sex. More often than not you'll find children embedded in these communities, because their "bohemian" parents simply refuse to acknowledge that they're putting kids into an unsafe place.

This is going to happen more and more in some of our more prolific cities (Bay Area, Seattle Area, L.A., NYC) because the cost of living is too high, but the allure of these "cultural centers" will still bring your starving-artist types into town, and these people simply cannot afford rent. As a result, the ones that stay shift to communal living, and often in places that are not zoned as residential.

It becomes a new normal, and so nobody looks around them and says "I live in a tinderbox that could turn into a deathtrap in minutes", they simply think "I live differently than most other people, and anyone who's concerned just doesn't understand my lifestyle". This is why people stop making a big deal out of things like not having running water, or having unsafe staircases, or not meeting fire-code.

The unfortunately reality is that in this fire, many of the victims were people who had never been there before. They were not aware that the building was a violation of code. They were not aware that "ghostship" was just a warehouse being used illegally. The facebook page and website made it seem like a legitimate, trendy artist collective / nightclub, and not a dilapidated fire-hazard unfit to stand in.

The best thing you can do is reach out to people you know that are living like this and let them know that there are real dangers outside of criticism of one's lifestyle that comes with this lifestyle. If you enjoy nightlife, you should be your own fire-marshall: Show up early, take note of fire-hazards and exits, and decide for yourself whether or not you should stick around when the crowd shows up.

These are my dealbreakers:
More than 40 feet between exits.
Any blatant bottlenecks, such as excess furniture, makeshift staircases, s-shaped hallways, etc.
No bathrooms (this means no running water - this means no fire sprinklers).
Only one exit (fuck that).
Exit doors that open inward.
ANY exit that is blocked, locked, chained or in any way isn't usable as a exit.
Open drug use (especially drugs that require fire).
Living/Sleeping spaces.
If you find yourself at a concert with any of the above conditions, demand your cover back, get the fuck out, and report it to the fire department. You're standing inside another potential Ghostship, and nobody should have to risk death (especially you!).