An Oakland fire battalion chief whose crew was the first to arrive at the scene of the fire at the Ghost Ship warehouse in 2016 that claimed 36 lives tearfully said on Wednesday that she and her crew did the best they could under difficult circumstances.
When attorneys for Ghost Ship warehouse master tenant Derick Almena, 49, and Ghost Ship creative director Max Harris, 29, accused her of not caring about the victims and leaving them to die, Heather Mozdean said, "I cannot think how we could have done anything any better."
Mozdean said, "There's not a single thing we could have done to change the outcome. That's so hard."
She said. "I've gone over and over this in my head and I'm not sure there would have been a different outcome."
Almena and Harris face 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter for the fire during a music party at the warehouse at 1309 31st Ave. late on the night of Dec. 2, 2016, one count for each of the 36 people who were killed in the blaze.