Oakland gets new fire chief in wake of fatal warehouse blaze

OAKLAND, Calif. – Nearly a year after a deadly warehouse fire, Oakland has announced a permanent fire chief.

The Northern California city announced Thursday that interim Chief Darin White has been appointed to the post.

He succeeds Teresa Deloach-Reed, who retired in May after coming under pressure from a fire last December at the Ghost Ship warehouse that killed 36 people.

The Fire Department was criticized for failing to conduct annual inspections of the warehouse, which had been illegally converted to living space.

White has 30 years in fire service, including 20 in the local department.

A city statement says that during his nine months as interim chief, White has demonstrated effective management “during some very difficult incidents.”

Those included a shooting that killed an off-duty firefighter and wounded another and a massive fire at an unfinished housing project.