OAKLAND, Calif. – The death toll from what officials say is the deadliest fire in Oakland’s recent history has risen to 33.
The new tally came Sunday afternoon, more than 36 hours after a massive fire engulfed a warehouse in the Fruitvale neighborhood, a mostly Hispanic community in East Oakland. The fire broke out at 11:30 p.m. Friday during a party at the building known as Oakland Ghost Ship, a warehouse that had been converted for artist exhibits and parties and had previously been investigated by city officials for complaints of blight and illegal internal structures.
Fire crews worked overnight, combing through piles of debris and transferring them to an empty building next door, Melinda Drayton, battalion chief for the Oakland Fire Department, told reporters during a news conference Sunday morning.
So far, crews have been able to go through only 20 percent of the building.
“This will be a long, arduous process,” Drayton said. “What we were able to accomplish in 12 hours was a phenomenal feat. We have a lot more to go. We’re going to be here for a few more days.”
The majority of those inside the building were young people, some of whom were from outside the Bay Area or the United States. Officials are contacting foreign consulates on behalf of victims from outside the country, Sgt. Ray Kelly, spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, told reporters.
The faint smell of burned rubble and debris lingered Sunday afternoon as about 30 residents lined up along the metal barricades that police set up around the warehouse. Firefighters were coming in and out of a Wendy’s parking lot filled with emergency vehicles. Several dump trucks and a tractor with a backhoe attached were outside the warehouse.
Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloach Reed told The Washington Post on Saturday that more than 50 people were inside the building Friday night, attending a party featuring musician Golden Donna’s 100 percent Silk West Coast Tour. The concert was being held on the second floor, where most of the recovered bodies were later found. A makeshift stairway put together with wooden pallets separated it from the first floor, Deloach Reed said.
Michael Rosen, who was at the party, left for a few minutes, only to see the building on fire when he returned.
“I think it’s important to say this was not a rave,” he said. “This was a very intimate gathering. It wasn’t a wild, out-of-control party where things got out of hand.”
By the time firefighters arrived, the staircase had burned away, Mark Hoffmann, deputy chief of the Oakland Fire Department, said Saturday.
The building’s instability slowed the recovery effort Saturday. Officials said the building’s roof had collapsed onto the second floor and, in many areas, the first floor, as well. Firefighters and structural engineers spent much of the day shoring up the structure so it would be safe to enter and recover the bodies. Hoffmann told Reuters that about a dozen people survived the blaze, including one who went to a hospital.
“We will be here for days and days to come,” Kelly said. “We anticipate that the number of victims will rise and will increase.”
