By Bob Walsh
The Ghost Ship warehouse, which burned down and killed 36 people in the process, had not been inspected in at least 30 years even though the city KNEW that there had been obvious illegal and unpermitted modification to the building. State mandates say that commercial buildings, which would include warehouses, should be inspected at least once per year.
The fire fighters union says that, unless there is an occupant that can pay the $186 inspection fee, the fire department seldom actually inspects commercial buildings.
There is also no evidence that the building department had ever inspected the property despite multiple complaints against the property.
The Civil Grand Jury noted two years ago that the fire department was woefully behind the curve in building inspections. The failure was blamed, as one might expect, on budget cuts. The city has only six inspectors. Bakersfield has 15. There is a data base for commercial buildings in the city, but it has only about 60% of the buildings actually listed on it. That data base was put into place in 2009.
As far as I know none of the victim's families has filed a civil suit. Yet.
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