OAKLAND, Calif. _ The warehouse where 36 people died earlier this month is just 500 feet from Oakland Fire Station No. 13.
Yet despite much community grumbling in recent years about the grim conditions of the building, Oakland fire officials said Tuesday that they had received no complaints about the warehouse in the last 12 years and that fire officials had never been dispatched there during that time.
The revelations increase scrutiny on officials over why the warehouse was able to operate as an illegal housing complex for artists without inspections or action from the city.
Last week, officials said building code enforcement inspectors had not been inside the warehouse in at least 30 years despite the fact that the property had been the focus of nearly two dozen building code complaints or other city actions.
Neighbors and former residents have told the Los Angeles Times that they had contacted the city about trash and debris piled outside the warehouse as well as other concerns about unsafe conditions inside.
Fire Chief Teresa Deloach Reed said a review of city records showed that the Fire Department never had any triggers to inspect the property because it never received any complaints since 2004.
A source in city government told the Times on Thursday that the address for the warehouse was not in the Fire Department's database of buildings requiring inspections.
The city's Fire Prevention Bureau is required to conduct annual inspections of all commercial buildings and multi-family residences, according to city ordinance. Officials have yet to release any fire inspection reports regarding the warehouse.
The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that some firefighters in the area knew the building had problems because of incidents they responded to nearby. But as far as the source knew, no firefighter had ever had reason to go inside.
The owner of the building did not have any of the building permits or fire inspections required for the conversion of the warehouse to residential use, according to Oakland Councilman Noel Gallo.
Oakland City Administrator Sabrina Landreth said city officials are still gathering and reviewing Police Department records for any officer calls to the structure in recent years.
Federal investigators on Tuesday said they are still working to determine the cause of the deadly fire.
Jill Snyder, special agent in charge of the San Francisco office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, said "no final determination" of the cause of the fire has been made. Snyder said the building's electrical system is part of the analysis. Investigators have focused on the rear of the first floor as the potential initiation point. Snyder said all findings will be given to the Alameda County District Attorney's office.
