Authorities investigating a deadly blaze that killed 36 people Friday night at a party inside the Ghost Ship warehouse in Oakland are eyeing appliances as the possible cause of the deadliest fire in California since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, along with Alameda County Sheriff's Office investigators, said the most likely starting point of the fire is a back area that contained a toaster and two refrigerators. That conclusion is based on firefighters' observations as they fought the flames, witness statements and the burn patterns seen in the two-story building as emergency workers sorted through the debris.
About 90 percent of the scene had been searched as of Tuesday, and officials do not expect the death toll to rise any further, the Chronicle reported. Of the dead, all but one person have been positively identified and the majority of their families have been notified of their deaths.
Officials on Tuesday night released the names of another 10 victims: Jonathan Bernbaum, 34; Billy Dixon, 35; Johnny Igaz, 34; Ara Jo, 29; Vanessa Plotkin, 21; and Nicole Siegrist, 29, all of Oakland; Amanda Kershaw, 34, of San Francisco; Griffin Madden, 23, of Berkeley; Hanna Ruax, 32, of Helsinki, Finland; and Alex Vega, 22, of San Bruno.
The fire broke out during an electronic music show at the Ghost Ship artists' collective, located inside a warehouse converted into work and living space for artists. The East Bay Times reported that the building might have been illegally converted, and some residents of the space have indicated that electrical wiring and other infrastructure was haphazard.
Alameda County officials told the Times that though some of the victims’ bodies were burned, autopsies thus far have shown that the majority died of smoke inhalation.
Two of the victims, a man and a woman, were found clutching one another in an effort to protect themselves from the flames, the Times said.
Officials have described the probe into the fire as criminal in nature and have said that criminal charges, up to and including murder, could be filed, depending on what comes from the investigation. The warehouse has been the subject of several code complaints in the past, and former tenants have said that the manager of the artists’ collective, Derick Almena, illegally rented out the space and failed to install fire alarms or sprinklers.
There have also been allegations that the electrical wiring in the building was not done according to code.
Almena gave a disjointed interview on "Today" Tuesday morning, in which he said he was "incredibly sorry" about the loss of life in the fire, but lashed out at the show's hosts when they asked him direct questions about his potential accountability.
About the Author
