Ghost Ship employees arrested on 36 counts of alleged manslaughter

The warehouse, which occupants had named the Ghost Ship, was one block from a fire station, and firefighters responded within three minutes of receiving the 911 call on the night of December 2.

Two men were charged with involuntary manslaughter on Monday for creating what prosecutors described as a "fire trap" at Oakland, California, warehouse where 36 people died in a blaze at an illegal dance party past year.

She said that they had allowed people to live in the warehouse and deceived Oakland police and the Oakland Fire Department, though city records released in February indicate that the police were aware that the building had been used as a living and event space since at least 2015.

District Attorney Nancy O'Malley did not file charges at the time but left the option open pending the completion of the investigation.

O'Malley declined to discuss whether more people will be charged but did say her investigation had ended.

Almena was an operator of the Ghost Ship warehouse in Oakland, in which dozens of people died in a fire that started December 2, 2016.

Along with master tenant Derick Almena, Max Harris - who also lived at the Ghost Ship and sometimes collected rent for Almena - was also arrested and criminally charged Monday.

O'Malley said, "The paying guests at the event were faced with a almost impossible labyrinth of the defendants' making to get out of that building" and alleged that the actions of Almena and Harris "were reckless and created a high risk of death".

The two men were each being held on bail of almost $1.1 million.

Almena's three lawyers called their client a "scapegoat".

Attorneys for Almena and Harris were not immediately available on Monday morning.

Alex's longtime girlfriend, 20-year-old Michaela Gregory, also died in the Ghost Ship warehouse fire.

Almena lied to law enforcement officers, "insisting that no one lived in the warehouse", according to Cristina Harbison, an inspector in the District Attorney's office and author of the document. They could face up to 39 years in prison if convicted of all the counts. Mr. Almena was arrested in Lake County and Mr. Harris in Los Angeles County.

The families have filed separate legal claims - precursors to lawsuits against government entities - against the city of Oakland, Alameda County and the state of California.

Dan Horowitz, a longtime criminal defense attorney in the San Francisco Bay Area who is not involved in the case, said it would be more hard to convict Ng than the others who have been charged.

Almena rented the warehouse and ran it as an art collective and communal residence.

Almena's and Harris' actions were reckless, creating a high risk of death. The litigators have previously said the officials investigating the case have a "conflict of interest" because they were likely to face civil suits in connection with the fire. "And on December 2nd, 2016, particularly, they actually blocked one of the points of egress, leaving only one way to get out of the second floor of that building".

On Dec. 2, 2016, almost 100 people piled into the warehouse for a concert, and Harris, the venue's "creative director", blocked off a stairwell that served as a secondary exit, authorities said.

"There is more responsibility to go around", Boudreaux said.

Mike Madden, the father of one of the victims, Griffin Madden, said he was surprised the owner of the building, Chor Nar Siu Ng, wasn't being charged.