Why have they not been charged with murder, negligent or otherwise?
That's exactly what I was wondering. I was reading an article about something related to northern California and the excuses people there make, and that reminded me about the Ghost Ship fire, and I wondered "hay, how is that situation developing."
A quick answer to that question is "not very rapidly."
The fire chief who was responsible for inspections during the time interval during which the Ghost Ship situation was permitted to develop announced her retirement back in March; her retirement benefits will total about $186K/yr. She "recently vested" into her Fire Chief pension (which only takes five years).
As a result, she will (one assumes) be allowed to swim away from the whole situation.
Not much is going on with landlord/founder Derick Almena, who has basically dropped out of sight.
For comparison, the owner of The Station nightclub, scene of the horrific Whitesnake fire back in 2003, was sentenced to 11 years in prison, as was the band's manager (who set up the pyrotechnics that lit off the inferno). When all was said and done, each served about four years, with the balance of their sentences suspended.
I'm doubtful any such sentence will fall on those responsible for the building and the Ghost Ship interior, in this case.