Investigators honed in on a refrigerator and other electrical appliances as possible causes of the fire at a warehouse in Oakland that killed 36 people, as crews were set to finish their search for bodies.
The death toll in the most lethal building fire in the U.S. in more than a decade was not expected to go higher.
A refrigerator was a potential source of the fire, but it was too soon to say for sure, said Jill Snyder, special agent in charge of the San Francisco office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Snyder said investigators were looking at “anything electrical” on the first floor of the warehouse near the origin of the blaze.
“We have no indication that this was intentionally set,” she said.
Tearful family members visited the scene Tuesday and exchanged hugs hours after the founder of the arts collective that used the warehouse stood near the gutted building and said he was “incredibly sorry.”
Derick Ion Almena said he was at the site to put his face and his body in front of the scene, but he deflected blame for the blaze, saying he signed a lease for the building that “was to city standards supposedly.”
“Everything that I did was to make this a stronger and more beautiful community and to bring people together,” Almena told the “Today Show” on NBC.
The fire broke out during a dance party Friday night in the cluttered warehouse. It had been converted to artists’ studios and illegal living spaces, and former denizens said it was a death trap of piled wood, furniture, snaking electrical cords and only two exits.
Almena did not respond to emails or calls to phone numbers associated with him by The Associated Press. He told San Jose television station KNTV that he didn’t attend the event Friday night and that he and his wife had decided to stay at a hotel because he was exhausted.
City and state officials fielded years of complaints about dangerous conditions, drugs, neglected children, trash, thefts and squabbles at the warehouse, raising questions about why it wasn’t shut down. The district attorney warned of possible murder charges as she determines whether there were any crimes linked to the blaze.
A building inspector who went to an Oakland warehouse on Nov. 17 after receiving a complaint of illegal interior construction left after being unable to get inside.
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said late Tuesday the inspector followed procedure and later sent a request to the owner to gain entry. She did not reveal the outcome of that request.
Under the Oakland city code, building officials and fire marshals need court permission to enter commercial lodgings if the owner or manager refuses access.
Building inspectors typically cannot force entry to a property unless there are pressing circumstances, Schaaf said.
Crews had searched 90 percent of the building known as the “Ghost Ship” for bodies as of Tuesday and were expecting to complete the rest of the search by midnight. Fire officials started knocking down parts of the building that they said were structurally unsound.
Alameda County sheriff’s Sgt. J.D. Nelson said that of the 36 victims found, 35 have been identified and 20 of their families have been notified. Officials are still lacking any type of identity for one person.
Stories of the victims’ last minutes, meanwhile, emerged.
Alameda County sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly said that some of the victims texted relatives, “I’m going to die,” and “I love you.”
Rescue crews found bodies of people “protecting each other, holding each other,” Kelly said.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
I suspect overloaded electrical circuits and old, bad wiring.
The City of Oakland is equally guilty as the landlord to this terrible fire.
They didn’t enforce their codes !!!!!
Major downplay, just read the full article. The stink goes clear to the top!
This source has nothing new. They just wanted the headline to say nothing. Shame on them! They should wait until they know the facts. The headline is misleading!
The city may need to re-examine its codes, especially the one dealing with getting permission from a commercial building owner. If a building owner is not in compliance with codes he is not going to probably voluntarily let a code officer in.
Like most tragedies this one is going to probably turn out to be a perfect storm of seemingly minor things that came together to create a tragedy.
Everything is cool in a sanctuary city. Do whatever you want, no laws need be followed ,by anyone ,legal or illegal.
I’ll bet the City Code requires a Sprinkler System for this kind of use.
How sorry I am about this news. Justin W said in his post, “a perfect storm of seemingly minor things” became so disastrous.
I can clearly understand that the cost of living, rent, food, etc. would force people to live in industrial spaces. I wouldn’t have subjected myself to an environment like that simply because of the tinder box that building was with all the combustible materials in there and little avenues of escape. Why. Simply from experience. As a hazmat handler in transportation, we are constantly being trained about safety. Obviously the city of Oakland has dropped the ball on this. Young folks, please take extra precautions out there. Government can or will only do so much. As the old saying goes, SAFETY IS NOT AN ACCIDENT!
Please be careful and not let your loved ones suffer the loss or injury of your precious life.
Put those Mayors of Sanctuary cities in prison for not enforcing federal law. Donald Trump will do it; until now no one had the guts.
City code laws must be upheld. Not to, falls on the shoulders of the people charged with enforcing them. Sorry mr/ms mayor the buck stops there.
This guy and the city are in for one huge lawsuit.
A ware house should not be used for anything but storage of property. It should not be used for a living space nor a dance party nor for a school. This building according to the news article did not have a staircase up to code for the second floor. There would not be sprinklers unless there was a recent remodeling job.
Another bankrupt democratic-controlled wasteland.
So odd that happened during this party the building been around for awhile and people living there. This place exploded it went up fast. The ages of the people there saddened me even more. Teach your youth to be careful where they party. The entire thing is very sad. I am sorry for the family and friends dealing with this absolutely unnecessary catastrophe.