Lawyers: Deadly Oakland fire didn’t start in Ghost Ship warehouse

Attorneys for the leader of Oakland’s Ghost Ship warehouse claimed Monday that the fire that killed 36 people attending a music event at the artists collective started in an adjacent building.

In their second public remarks since being retained, lawyers for Derick Ion Almena said their investigation indicates he should not be held criminally responsible for the deadly Dec. 2 blaze.

The Alameda County district attorney’s office, which is conducting a criminal investigation, and the Oakland Fire Department, which is probing the official cause, have made no such determinations, and their investigation is ongoing, a spokeswoman said.

The spokeswoman for the district attorney, Teresa Drenick, said her office wouldn’t comment until the official investigation is complete, adding that there is no current estimate of when that might be.

AFT police officials inspect the Ghost Ship warehouse from inside as Oakland firefighters investigate outside on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2016 in Oakland, Calif. 36 people were killed when a fire broke out on Dec. 2 at the Ghost Ship warehouse on 31st Avenue and International Boulevard in Oakland's Fruitvale neighborhood. As many as 100 people were inside attending a music performance. The blaze is now the deadliest structure fire in California since the 1906 earthquake and fire. Officials said the cause of ignition is still unknown and the building had no evidence of fire sprinklers. less AFT police officials inspect the Ghost Ship warehouse from inside as Oakland firefighters investigate outside on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2016 in Oakland, Calif. 36 people were killed when a fire broke out on Dec. 2 ... more Photo: Santiago Mejia, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Santiago Mejia, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 77 Caption Close Lawyers: Deadly Oakland fire didn’t start in Ghost Ship warehouse 1 / 77 Back to Gallery

Renowned San Francisco attorney Tony Serra, along with two other lawyers based in the city, alleged in their investigation, which studied power sources and wiring to the fire-ravaged building in the Fruitvale district, that the fire started in a building abutting the Ghost Ship, not inside the warehouse itself.

The attorneys said a private investigator, whom they declined to name, canvassed the site and “online resources” on Jan. 14, by which point the property had been thoroughly picked over by law enforcement investigators who removed evidence.

If the origin of the fire was not inside the Ghost Ship, Almena — who has kept a low profile since allegations emerged about the conditions he kept inside the Ghost Ship, including tangles of exposed electrical wiring — should not be held criminally responsible, his lawyers said. Almena has not been charged with a crime.

“The reasonable doubt here is overwhelming,” the statement said.

The statement also inaccurately claimed that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the federal agency called in to assist in the investigation, “could not conclude where the fire originated.”

An ATF spokeswoman said the Oakland Fire Department has always intended to release that determination once the investigation is finished. Almena’s attorneys did not respond to requests for comment.

Michael Bodley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mbodley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @michael_bodley