Fire crews worked through the night and into Sunday morning in Oakland, Calif., following a deadly warehouse party fire on Friday night. Nine people are confirmed dead and dozens of others remain unaccounted for.
Crews set up powerful lights so they could better see the burned-out building in the Fruitvale district, but the threat of a building collapse has been slowing recovery work.
What remains of the warehouse has been declared structurally unsound and too dangerous for workers to go inside. They have been building retaining walls just inside the crumbling walls to add support.
“For them, it’s just been a very difficult period and they’re hoping that their loved ones will be found, but they know that the chances so many hours after this took place of anyone being found alive is virtually nil,” said freelance reporter Steve Futterman, reporting for CBC.
A firefighters walks on the roof of a smouldering building after a fire tore through a warehouse party early Saturday in Oakland, Calif. (Josh Edelson/Associated Press)
Many of the victims were young people in their 20s or 30s, authorities said. They added it’s believed as many as 40 people died.
The “Ghost Ship” warehouse — popular with artists who lived and worked there — was the subject of several building code violations and there was no permit for the party to take place, an Oakland building official told The Los Angeles Times.
A man who was working in the building when the fire began, around 11:30 p.m., managed to escape.
“We were downstairs. I was about to start painting and we tried to figure out where the smoke was coming from and then we saw where the fire was.It was on the back left corner of the space,” Bob Mulé, 27, told NBC News.
Dozens of people were inside the building for the ‘Rave Cave’ party when a deadly fire broke out. (Darin Marshall/Facebook)
“We started yelling and trying to get everyone out,” he said.
Former residents told the L.A. Times the building lacked fire sprinklers.
The building occupied about half a city block and housed a cluttered warren of artists’ studios, craft booths, antiques and furniture.
The dance party, featuring electronic music performances, took place on the second floor of the building, which had just two exits. A makeshift staircase inside appeared to have been constructed from wooden pallets.
The warehouse roof collapsed onto the second floor during the fire, according to authorities, and portions of the second floor caved in on the first storey.