Investigators to look at electrical system in Oakland fire

A benefit concert is scheduled for Wednesday to raise money for victims in the Oakland warehouse fire that killed 36 people.

Survivors Nikki Kelber and Carmen Brito describe the horrific scene inside the converted Oakland warehouse where they lived as they fled for their lives and tried to help others escape the building where dozens died in a fire late Friday night.

Barry Donelan, the president of the Oakland Police Officers’ Association said it was “ludicrous” to expect rank-and-file police officers to report building code violations. Most of the bodies were found on the second floor, which was accessible by a makeshift stairwell assembled with various materials, according to Reed. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation. Only a handful of people reportedly made it out of the building.

Some of those agencies had been told or could have seen for themselves that the family of five and their dozens of artist tenants were living in a warehouse that had no permit to operate as a living space and allegedly had no proper kitchen, electricity, adequate fire exits or solid stairs.

Amanda Kershaw, a 34-year-old San Francisco resident, 23-year-old Griffin Madden from Berkeley, 22-year-old Alex Vega from San Bruno and 32-year-old Hanna Ruax from Helsinki, Finland, have also been confirmed dead.

Hettich and other artists say many warehouses don’t meet building code standards but are not as unsafe as the Ghost Ship and that eliminating them would deal a crucial blow to San Francisco’s experimental art culture.

In a letter accompanying the report, said it was “unacceptable” that “Oakland is fast becoming unaffordable to those who have called our city home for generations and who give our city its rich diversity”.

Circus artist Fallon Burner, 31, counts about five close to the Ghost Ship, including one that she lives in where she’s afraid to complain about hazards.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf has sought to ease the artists’ concerns but also says the status quo is unacceptable.

Bruce Nielsen, a retired Oakland fire battalion chief, said he thinks missing buildings on inspection rounds “happens all the time”.

“She appointed herself, but she was doing the job in name only because she’s the fire chief and has other responsibilities”, Unger said.

Andrew Kershaw said Amanda Kershaw, 34, of San Francisco – who appears on her Facebook profile as Amanda Allen – was still among the missing as of December 5.

Also on Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives observed a moment of silence for the Oakland fire victims of the tragic Oakland warehouse fire.

Oakland firefighters and Alameda County sheriff’s deputies had to be especially careful as warnings of wreckage collapsing on them had been announced. Ms. Ng’s daughter has told numerous media outlets that she was unaware anyone lived on the property. She indicated it would be at least several weeks before the investigation was completed. According to participants in the music festival scene who wished to remain anonymous, Almena was a regular at gatherings like Symbiosis, where he would hire people to set up Satya Yuga “altars”, composed of the same ornate East Asian furniture that packed the Ghost Ship warehouse.

“I’m a father. I laid my three children down there every night”. “They’re my children. They’re my friends”. Authorities believe they will be able to clear and remove all debris removal by midnight; however some structural sections need to be removed.

“This whole thing, the city giving them warning after warning after warning, strikes me as weird”.

City and state officials fielded years of complaints about risky conditions, drugs, neglected children, trash, thefts and squabbles at the illegally converted warehouse.

The fire broke out during a dance party Friday night.

Meanwhile, investigators continue to work on determining what caused the fire at the so-called Ghost Ship warehouse, illegally converted into a residence and hosting a dance party when the blaze ignited. “There is literally nowhere else to go”, Vinnie said.

“They never inspected it”.