Unit seen ablaze as inferno began

A REFRIGERATOR may have sparked the fire that killed 36 people at a ramshackle, illegally converted Oakland warehouse, officials said Tuesday.

Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern said a lucky partygoer who escaped the deadly blaze at the artist space told authorities there were flames coming from a fridge on the first floor Friday night, and evidence found at the scene supports the claim.

Details of the possible cause emerged as fire crews nearly completed their search through the wreckage, finding bodies burned beyond recognition.

The death toll was not expected to rise.

Tearful family members visited the scene and comforted one another Tuesday hours after the founder of the “Ghost Ship” arts collective that used the warehouse stood near the gutted building and said he was “incredibly sorry.”

“Everything that I did was to make this a stronger and more beautiful community, and to bring people together,” Derick Almena told the “Today Show” on NBC.

Almena, 46, grew confrontational during the interview and refused to answer questions about who should be held responsible for the lethal blaze.

“What am I doing here? Can I just say I’m sorry?” Almena said. “I don’t want to talk about me. I laid my three children down there every night. This is not profit. This is loss. This is a mass grave.”

Almena shut down direct questions from hosts Matt Lauer and Tamron Hall about the inferno, which has sparked a criminal investigation.

Former tenants said Almena, who lived in the warehouse with his wife Micah Allison and their three children, was known to illegally rent out the space without having installed fire alarms, sprinklers or proper electrical wiring. He was also on probation after pleading guilty in January to receiving stolen property.

Child welfare workers