LOS ANGELES — Shortly after 36 people died in the Ghost Ship fire, Max Harris — the tattoo artist, creative director, rent collector and resident of the illegal art collective — moved south to Los Angeles, away from the tragedy and media storm.
His new home there, however, appears to have had many of the hallmarks of the destroyed Fruitvale warehouse: a clutter of artwork and debris surrounded the industrial space, which was not zoned for residential use.
Harris lived in one of four lofts inside the converted South L.A. warehouse for the past three months, according to a neighbor, before he was arrested there Monday and charged, along with Ghost Ship founder Derick Almena, with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter. An Alameda County Sheriff’s official said Harris, 27, will be brought back to Santa Rita Jail in Dublin on Thursday.
While much of the Ghost Ship tragedy has focused on the role played by the eccentric Almena, court documents reveal that prosecutors believe it was Harris who planned the doomed Dec. 2 party. During his preparations, he blocked off one of two exits from the second floor, which “effectively reduced the upstairs guests to a single point of escape” down a makeshift front staircase constructed of wood pallets.
In an interview with this news agency shortly after the fire, Harris spoke about the plans for the party.
“I was getting ready for the event, cleaning up, closing off areas, preparing to welcome people into the space. I was moving furniture around to change things up,” he said.
In the days after the fire, Harris, who acted as doorman the night of the party, came across as fortunate survivor and a reluctant hero who helped usher people out of the inferno, even attempting to douse the growing “hellish” conflagration with a fire extinguisher.
“It was a raging inferno in less than 15 seconds,” he recounted at a vigil days after the tragedy. “It was rolling. It had a trajectory to the door. It chased people to the door.”
He said he heard screams from the dark, smoke-filled interior and instructed people to shine their cellphones and come to his voice as he stood near the exit.
“After two minutes, no one else came out,” he said.
Even as Harris was being portrayed as a sympathetic character who lost two close friends, criminal investigators began focusing on him as Almena’s second-in-command since moving there in 2014.When Almena was away, Harris would collect rent, former residents have said. After the December fire, he took to social media to ask for financial support as he grieved the loss of friends and his home.
Prosecutors claim the men forced residents to decorate the warehouse with “nonconventional” and highly flammable items. They also altered the interior of the warehouse by building a bathroom, cutting a doorway into a walland a hole in the roof, and opening a previously sealed window in an adjacent building wall, according to the prosecutor’s statement.
As the investigation intensified, Harris moved south to an old brick building, historically used as retail stores dating back to their construction in 1924, according to Los Angeles city records. Tax assessor records show the building — across the street from a school and next door to a towing and auto repair shop — was zoned commercial, just like the Ghost Ship.
Someone had painted a pink peace symbol on the large white doors of Harris’ loft, next to a koi fish ornament hanging by a pair of padlocks. An assortment of items sat outside the building, including a wood pallet, easel, propane tanks and wooden furniture. The Ghost Ship had repeatedly been cited by city officials for keeping items in front of the warehouse.
A neighbor told a reporter Tuesday that Harris had his mail delivered to his towing and auto repair shop, often postmarked from the Bay Area.
Ghost Ship resident Carmen Brito doubts prosecutors’ assertion that Harris blocked the back stairwell the night of the fire, but said even if he did, it wouldn’t have mattered.
“Whether it was blocked or not is moot,” she said. “It’s possible more people would have died if they tried to go down the back stairs” where investigators say the fire originated.
She described Harris as a “sweetheart once you get past the face tattoo.” Harris “gets excited about gemstones and crystals. He’s a little dorky and soft-spoken.”
“The only time I heard him yell was the night of the fire when he was trying to get people out. He helped get at least a dozen people out of there, more than the fire department did,” Brito said.
Staff writers Julia Prodis Sulek and Scott Schwebke contributed to this report.
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