Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Fire erupts at warehouse concert
Officials fear dozens of deaths at rave
Officials fear dozens dead in the blaze.
OAKLAND, Calif. — Authorities said they were preparing to deal with dozens of fatalities after a fire raced through a converted warehouse crowded with people attending a Friday night concert, officials said Saturday.
Nine bodies were recovered, but Alameda County sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Kelly said officials were prepared for up to 40 fatalities.
Firefighters were moving through the burned-out remains looking for victims. The building’s roof caved in, and debris made the search difficult, Kelly said.
Firefighters planned to use drones with thermal imaging equipment.
The cause of the fire wasn’t known. While arson is not suspected, Kelly said nothing has been ruled out.
Officials believe it is likely there are more fatalities because there are friends and family who still have not heard from some people who attended the rave.
“This is just a tragedy, and there are no easy answers,” Kelly said. “This not an easy task.
“It appears that either you got out or you got trapped inside,” Kelly said.
City records show that the building had at least three code violations this year.
In one complaint, city inspectors said there was illegal building on the property as well as piles of trash.
“This property is a storage (facility), but the owner turned it to become trash recycle site. The yard became a trash collection site and the main building was remodel for residential,” according to city records. Earlier complaints cited dangerous levels of trash and debris around the building.
Oakland City Councilman Noel Gallo, who represents the district where the fire broke out, said neighbors have regularly complained about the building — particularly piles of trash and debris outside.
Gallo said he did not know whether people were living inside the warehouse. Asked whether the building had residential permits, he said: “Absolutely not.”
The property is one of several owned by Chor N. Ng, according to her daughter, Eva Ng. She said the warehouse was leased as studio space for an art collective and not used as a dwelling.
“Nobody lived there,” she said. “It was an art collective.”
She said she had asked her leaseholders about the issue and had been reassured that nobody lived in the building. “They confirmed multiple times. They said sometimes some people worked through the night, but that is all,” she said.
But witnesses said the warehouse, known as the “Oakland Ghost Ship,” was a collective where artists lived and worked.
Artist Bob Mule told KTVU-TV that he tried to help a friend with an injured ankle get out of the burning building but was unable to rescue him. Hours later, he was still searching for his friend.
“It was too hot, too much smoke. I had to get out of there,” he said. “I literally felt my skin peeling and my lungs being suffocated by smoke. I couldn’t get the fire extinguisher to work.”
The building was the site of a rave Friday night called the Golden Donna 100 percent Silk 2016 West Coast Tour, according to a concert Facebook page.
Oakland fire chief Teresa Deloach-Reed said it appears there were no smoke detectors or fire sprinklers in the building.
She said the fire may have started near a makeshift stairwell.
That stairway “was kind of like they put it together with pallets,” she said.
Deloach-Reed said 50 to 100 people were believed to have been at the party when the fire started and that clutter “made it difficult for people to escape.”
The warehouse was partitioned into artist studios and was packed with furniture, mannequins, statues, lamps and other objects, she said.