A former Oakland fire inspector said he left his post at the department after two years because it was a "broken system."
Mark Grissom, 42, left the department in December 2015 after he talked to fire department and city officials about fake inspection reports.
“I couldn’t work in a situation where people’s lives were constantly being put in danger because of the broken system,” Grissom, told the East Bay Times. “I wasn’t going to be part of another 25, 30, 50 people dying.”
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He said he wasn't surprised when he heard the Dec. 2 Ghost Ship fire that left 36 people dead and many injured.
“It was heartbreaking, it could have been avoided,” he told the newspaper. “The system in Oakland is so broken.”
During his two years in Oakland, he said he encountered conditions similar to that of the deadly 1991 wildfire in the same neighborhood.
He even drove the city auditor through the area to point out areas where inspection reports were allegedly faked.
While Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloach acknowledged "gaps” in the department’s prevention bureau, she said the Ghost Ship fire can't be blamed on the city's inspectors.
Deloach said Grissom's experience was limited within the department.
"I am really not sure what his knowledge is,” Deloach told the newspaper.
“We have been working very diligently to improve fire safety in this city long before the Ghost Ship tragedy,” Mayor Libby Schaaf told the newspaper. “We are a city with many pressing demands and limited resources.”
