"A great burden": Wife of Ghost Ship's Derick Almena talks to KTVU

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KTVU) -  

Almena, Allison and their three children were staying at a nearby hotel the night of the deadly fire. The family lived at the warehouse, and the children attended a charter school nearby.

Allison explained that she and her husband truly believed that they were building a special space at the Ghost Ship that could provide a refuge and an outlet for artists in the Bay Area. She lamented the lack of support from the City of Oakland in addressing the housing crisis and the burden that working artists bear in trying to make a living.

“I can't tell you how brokenhearted to see so many of those spaces shut down over this,” she said. Allison said that the Ghost Ship – also called the Satya Yuga artists’ collective – was not the “terrible, horrible” place described in some reports.

“I know that everybody that was there that night were all amazing artists, and they were all there as contemporaries of each other to share with each other. They were attracted to the space because of its sense of adventure, it's sense of beauty,” she said. “Actually it was a sanctuary and a safe haven for many people.”

Allison would not answer any questions about the warehouse owner, Chor Ng, saying she didn’t want to comment on anything related to her husband’s criminal case.

WATCH: Ghost Ship owners knew of safety issues, emails show

When asked if she or her husband feel responsible for the tragedy, Allison sighed deeply and said, “It's really difficult for me to answer that with my husband's freedom being on the line.”

But then she added: “I will carry this for the rest of my life. There is no separation between myself and the people that died. I don't believe that there's a separation. I believe they're always with us and I believe that there has to be a great purpose and a greater reason. We have to make it that way if there isn't.”