Updated: Dec. 5, 11:00 a.m. ET
As investigators continue the painstaking process of picking through the rubble of a warehouse in Oakland that erupted into fire on Friday night during an underground dance party, at a briefing on Monday morning (Dec. 5), Alameda County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Deputy Tya Modste said the death toll in the incident had climbed to 36.
“We have located and recovered 36 victims,” Modste said. “Of the 36, 11 have been positively identified and their family members have been appropriately identified,” she said. The list of names of the dead was not updated at the press conference.
|Identified where fire started
Oakland Fire Department spokesperson Chief Teresa DeLoach Reed added that her department was asked by the ATF and local investigators to halt their recovery work in the back of the building at 10 p.m. PT on Sunday based on their belief that they have identified the section of the building where the fire started. That investigative team was expected to begin their probe of the suspected area on Monday morning in an effort to determine the origin of the deadly blaze.
(Source: YouTube)
She also noted that after detecting on Sunday night that the front wall of the building was leaning in, a full work stoppage was put in place to protect the lives of fire and police crews on site, an action that halted the efforts to recover additional victims' bodies. Structural engineers were expected on site on Monday morning to develop a plan to shore up the building in order to get the body recovery efforts back on track. “We hope that we'll be back in the building between 12 o'clock and two o'clock today to continue the recovery effort,” she said.
DeLoach Reed said that officials have now searched 70 percent of the building area, but that “we are no closer to finding a cause [of the fire] and we absolutely believe that the number of fire fatalities will increase.” On Sunday, Oakland major Mayor Libby Schaaf said she had “activated the criminal investigation team” following one of the deadliest structure fires in the United States in the last decade. A relief fund for victims of the tragic event has raised more than $100,000.
More photos…
A firefighters walks on the roof of a smoldering building after a fire tore through a warehouse party early Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016 in Oakland. Oakland fire chief Teresa Deloche-Reed said many people were unaccounted for as of Saturday morning and authorities were working to verify who was in the cluttered warehouse when the fire broke out around 11:30 p.m. Friday. (AP Photo/Josh Edelson)
A criminal investigation has now been activated as a precaution, though no further details have been revealed. The district attorney's office is on-site, cooperating with other agencies.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is on-site assisting, offering lab services from experts and scientists.
|Origin of fire unknown
Alameda County Sheriff Ray Kelly told reporters that part of the delay in releasing names, aside from time to notify family, is that some victims are transgendered. Officials are working with the families and transgender organizations to ensure they properly announce victim's names and correct gender. Some bodies have been easy to ID, while others will likely require DNA tests and dental records, which could take weeks.
Firefighters clear an entry to a smoldering building after a fire tore through a warehouse party early Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016 in Oakland. (AP Photo/Josh Edelson)
|Maze-like converted warehouse
The converted warehouse was known as the “Ghost Ship” and has been described as a maze-like warren of artist studios. According to a statement, on Nov. 13 the city received complaints of blight and unpermitted interior construction at the building, and four days later a building inspector visited the property and verified the complaint but could not gain access to the building to confirm it. The investigation is ongoing.
Fire Chief Melinda Drayton called the fire the most deadly in her 19-year career, adding that the mood among her team is somber.
“This is the most deadly fire in Oakland's fire history that I'm aware of, I've been in for 19 years and consider myself a veteran,” she says. “It is tragic to watch so many people perish from a fire fatality in front of your eyes and have to be stoic in your job.”
Drayton says the excavation is being carried out “literally bucket by bucket in a methodical, thoughtful, mindful, and compassionate way.” She anticipates at least a few more days using the same approach. “This will be a long and arduous process,” Drayton says.
Firefighters assess the scene where a deadly fire tore through a late-night electronic music party in a warehouse in Oakland, Calif., Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. Officials described the scene inside the warehouse, which had been illegally converted into artist studios, as a death trap that made it impossible for many partygoers to escape the Friday night fire. (AP Photo/Josh Edelson)
Cleanup continues at the scene of a warehouse fire, Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Video image provided by KGO-TV shows the Ghost Ship warehouse after the fire in Oakland, Calif. (KGO-TV via AP)
Sol Rodriguez, center, and Aaron Torres visit a shrine for the victims of a warehouse fire near the site Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016, in Oakland, Calif. The death toll was expected to rise, as crews using buckets and shovels slowly made their way through the building, finding victims where they least expected them, Alameda County Sheriff's Sgt. Ray Kelly said. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
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