Advertisement

At least 30 dead in California warehouse party fire

Witnesses say there was no clear escape route.

Witnesses say there was no clear escape route. Photo: @seungylee14

Police have recovered the bodies of 30 people from a warehouse party fire that broke out in Oakland, California on the weekend.

Officials described the warehouse where an illegal music event was being held as a “death trap” that made it impossible for many partygoers to escape an intense fire that erupted during the event.

The bodies have been taken to the coroner’s office, but only three families have been notified due to the difficulty of identifying them.

City and Alameda County officials said they expected to find more victims once the burned-out ruins of the two-story building were fully shored up and recovery teams were able to safely comb through the structure’s charred interior.

The sheriff’s department said there were more bodies trapped in the debris that were hard to reach and needed to be “cut from the wreckage”.

Sergeant Ray Kelly said excavators, a crane and dumpster trucks were being brought in to help in the recovery and the building was being flooded with light to allow crews to work through the night.

Sergeant Kelly said crews would have to move very slowly as they pull out debris and look for more victims.

Oakland deputy fire chief Mark Hoffmann said the building was “a labyrinth of little areas”.

“We knew people were in there, and we were trying to get them out. But it was just a labyrinth.”

San Francisco fire

A man being interviewed by authorities collapses outside the venue. Photo: AP

The blaze started about 11.30pm (local time) on Friday in the city’s Fruitvale district, a mostly Latino, blue-collar area that is also home to many artists living and working in converted lofts.

The cause of the blaze and exact number of casualties remained undetermined, said Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloach Reed, who called it the worst single-structure fire she had seen in her career.

Drone aircraft equipped with thermal-imaging technology were sent inside the gutted structure looking for any signs of life, but none was found, a spokesman for the county sheriff said.

The party was taking place on the second floor of the building, which had just two exits, one for each floor.

A makeshift staircase appeared to be constructed from pallets.

The building’s roof had collapsed into the second floor, which in places fell to the bottom floor.

Warehouse had checkered history

Authorities said they did not suspect arson, but investigators want to find out if the building, which was partitioned into artists’ studios, had a history of building code violations.

Darin Ranelletti, from the Oakland Planning Department, said the city had received complaints about unpermitted construction at the building and opened an investigation.

“There was a complaint that there was light in the adjacent lot, debris, garbage and trash. We were able to confirm that those violations were accurate,” Mr Ranelletti said.

“Regarding the illegal construction, that was for interior construction within the building itself.”

Mr Ranelletti said an inspector failed to gain access to the structure on November 7, and that the inquiry remained open.

He said the city was aware of reports that people were living there, but no permits had been issued for habitation. It was unclear, he said, whether special permits would be needed for the artists who had set up shop inside.

Many of the victims were young people in their 20s or 30s, authorities said.

“It’s just so hard to accept that some really wonderful people’s lives got cut short,” said Jenny Yang, 34, an artist and activist who was waiting for news of missing friends at Eli’s, an Oakland bar that opened early on Saturday as a gathering spot.

Video footage posted on social media showed flames shooting from the structure, which was adorned with elaborate graffiti and colourful murals, as fire vehicles pumped plumes of water and heavy smoke engulfed the neighbourhood.

Authorities said they did not know how many people were at the party or how many lived on the premises.

‘Like a concrete kiln’

But one eyewitness, who said he left the party to buy liquor and returned to find flames shooting from the second floor, said on Twitter that he saw about 60 to 70 people in the building.

“It was an inferno,” Seung Y. Lee recounted in a post on his verified Twitter account.

Mr Lee, who declined an interview, tweeted that the entire first floor was “covered in wood – antiques, furniture, etc. Beautiful but labyrinthine”.

He also described the wooden stairway as rickety and hazardous.

Firefighters at warehouse fire in US

Firefighters try to assess the scene where the deadly fire tore through. Photo: AP

The warehouse was known as the Oakland Ghost Ship. Its website showed pictures of a bohemian, loft-like interior made of wood and cluttered with rugs, old sofas and a garage-sale like collection of pianos, paintings, turntables, statues and other items.

A Facebook event page showed 176 people planned to attend the party, which featured electronic music performances.

Ben Koss, an Oakland resident and musician, told Reuters he was on his way to the party with friends and arrived late to find smoke billowing from the warehouse moments before firefighters arrived.

“We tore down a fence so people could get out, but nobody came out,” he said.

“It was like a concrete kiln.”

Parents and others shared contact information on the page and asked anyone with information about the missing to call. “ANY information please!” wrote a woman looking for her son.

At a sheriff’s station not far from the fire, about a dozen people were waiting on Saturday for updates from authorities.

“I don’t have high hopes,” said a woman with four friends among the missing, declining to give her name.

“We’ve just spent the night calling hospitals and listening to police scanners.”

-with agencies

Stay informed, daily
A FREE subscription to The New Daily arrives every morning and evening.
The New Daily is a trusted source of national news and information and is provided free for all Australians. Read our editorial charter
Copyright © 2024 The New Daily.
All rights reserved.