Update, 11:30 a.m. Monday: Friends and family have organized a vigil tonight at 8 p.m. at the Lake Merritt Pergola.
Update, 7 a.m. Monday: Crews have recovered an additional three victims, raising the death toll from the fire at the Ghost Ship warehouse to 36.
Of the victims, 11 people have been identified and their families notified, said Deputy Sheriff Tya Modeste of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. Names of seven victims were released Sunday night, and the others won't be released until families have had the chance to update other relatives.
"We absolutely believe the number of fire fatalities will increase," said Oakland Fire Battalion Fire Chief Melinda Drayton.
Fire crews have covered 70 percent of the building in the recovery effort. They stopped work late Sunday on a part of the site where local investigators and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives "feel very strongly" they have found the area of the fire's origin, Drayton said. That part of the warehouse has been quarantined.
"Based on the significant charring and damage in the building, we've got some areas where the steel is actually twisted and wrapped in the back of the building," she said of the area believed to be where the fire started.
"Potentially," during the party, "the dance floor was just above" that area, Drayton said.
Just after midnight, crews had to stop work at the site when a 3-inch lean in an exterior wall was found at the front of the warehouse.
"Working under a wobbly, potentially collapsing exterior wall is extremely dangerous," Drayton said.
Structural engineers and contract workers were expected to arrive soon at the site and make a game plan for re-entering the site. They hope to be back in by noon, she said.
Authorities were "no closer to finding a cause" for the blaze, Drayton said, and when asked about the temperature of the fire, she described it as "extremely hot."
KQED News morning anchor Brian Watt spoke with East Bay desk reporters Sandhya Dirks and Devin Katayama Monday morning about the recovery efforts. Listen below.
KQED News morning anchor Brian Watt spoke with Oakland City Councilman Noel Gallo, whose district contains the Ghost Ship warehouse. He spoke about code violations in these types of buildings across Oakland. Listen below.
KQED News morning anchor Brian Watt spoke again with East Bay desk reporters Sandhya Dirks and Devin Katayama Monday morning about the latest. Listen below.
Update, 6:20 p.m. Sunday:
The Alameda County Sheriff's Office Coroner's Bureau has provided names of seven of the victims in the Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland. An eighth, a 17-year-old minor, will not be named. The office indicated the families of the victims have been notified. The victims with their ages and home cities are:
- Cash Askew, 22, Oakland
- David Clines, 35, Oakland
- Nick Gomez-Hall, 25, Coronado
- Sara Hoda, 30, Walnut Creek
- Travis Hough, 35, Oakland
- Donna Kellogg, 32, Oakland
- Brandon Chase Wittenauer, 32, Hayward
We will provide more information about those killed in the blaze over the next couple of days.
Update, 4 p.m. Sunday:
The death toll from the fire at the Ghost Ship warehouse in Oakland has risen to 33, according to Alameda County Sheriff's Sgt. Ray Kelly. He said during a press conference that the cause of the fire is still unknown.
Seven names of the victims will be released today. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said the search operation will continue 24/7.
Schaaf said Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley has activated a criminal investigation team for any potential investigation into the fire. Only O'Malley can launch a criminal investigation.
Schaaf said it is far too early for officials to speculate about the cause of the blaze.
"The scope of this tragedy is tremendous. We have many, many witnesses to interview," Schaaf said. "We are in the process of doing that."
Sgt. Kelly said recovery crews have broken the warehouse into four quadrants for search purposes and victims have been found in every quadrant. Kelly said more than 60 percent of the warehouse still needs to be searched.
Kelly said teenagers were among those killed. He added that some victims come from other countries and that there are attempts to contact families of the victims in Europe and Asia with the help of the State Department. Kelly also confirmed the son of a sheriff's deputy was among the victims.
"This tragedy has hit very close to home for our agency," Kelly said. "One of our deputies that we work with lost his son in this fire, and so we're still dealing with that as we continue to deal with the other victims. This has affected us as first responders. We weren't really prepared to talk about that right now, but we're dealing with that, and our family, and our department is hurting from that."
The coroner's office reiterated that family and friends should preserve any objects that may contain victims' DNA, such as combs, brushes or toothbrushes for identification purposes.
Oakland City Councilman Noel Gallo, whose district contains the Ghost Ship warehouse, said city officials are beginning to have discussions about these type of buildings.
"My responsibility to the citizens, we do need to enforce the codes that we have," Gallo said in an interview with KQED's Devin Katayama. "Certainly we've recognized we should have been more assertive in the past."
Katayama also spoke with Oakland resident Chris Dunn, who said he had attended parties at the Ghost Ship warehouse.
“These are places that people go that don't always fit into the legal and above-board clubs,” Dunn said. “These places people go to that can't afford to go to some of those other bigger, above-board events. These are places you're just not turned away for lack of funds.”
Update, 3 p.m. Sunday:
Officials are holding a press conference at 3 p.m. to discuss the latest in the Oakland warehouse fire that has killed at least 30 individuals. Watch it live below.
Update, 12:50 p.m. Sunday:
The death toll from the fire at the Ghost Ship warehouse in Oakland has risen to 30, according to Alameda County Sheriff's Sgt. Ray Kelly.
"That is an astronomical number," he said. "We’re still not done."
Kelly said crews are getting deeper into the building and expects to find more victims. He also asked families to preserve any potential sources of victims' DNA to identify bodies.