Oakland Warehouse Organizer, Where 36 Died In A Fire Friday, Gives WILD Interview

Daily Mail — The man responsible for leasing out an illegal artist enclave were 36 died in an warehouse fire this weekend got angry as he was asked questions about the tragedy during a live TV interview.

Derick Ion Almena, 46, was emotional from the start of his interview with the Today show’s Matt Lauer and Tamron Hall, saying it wasn’t a ‘good morning’ and that the only reason he was speaking was to say sorry…

…City officials said the space was not permitted as a residential building, but Almena said about 20 people lived there, the station reported.

Look I don’t want to sit here and pile on. Three dozen people dying is no place to joke around. And I am positive this guy is devastated, grieving beyond belief, and about as emotional as a person can be. But when you are responsible for creating maybe the most obvious fire hazard on earth, in which 36 people then died in a fire, during one of your parties that you consistently threw instead of improving the building and making it safer, you’re going to need to answer some tough questions. That’s just called responsibility. It’s not like this guy’s a 15-year-old kid — he’s 46. I don’t want to cue the stereotypical thoughts we all have about “artist enclaves” in illegal warehouses, but when the 46-year-old leader just wants to talk about how much art this place cultivated and how no one there thought “it was a horrible place,” it’s tough to shake. Nobody thought it was a horrible place until they died in a fire… that nobody took required coding steps to prevent.