begin quote from:
Fire breaks out at Calif. dance party; as many as 40 dead
| New York Daily News | - |
As
many as 40 people were killed at a California dance party late Friday
when a massive fire broke out inside a warehouse-turned-artists' studio
where dozens of clubbers had gathered, officials said.
Subscribe
As many as 40 feared dead after fire breaks out at California warehouse dance party
Oakland investigators have only confirmed nine deaths, but another 25 people are reported missing and firefighters have not yet been able to enter the still-smoldering building to search for victims and survivors.
The Alameda County Coroner’s Office is preparing to accept up to 40 bodies, Alameda County Sherriff Sgt. Ray Kelly said. However he stressed that it’s impossible to know how many victims there are until firefighters are able to get inside the ruined structure.
“We are prepared for a mass casualty event,” he said. “We don’t exactly know how many.”
Friends and family search for loved ones after warehouse fire
A fire broke out at a party in a warehouse in Oakland, Calif., Friday night.
(Darin Marshall via Facebook)“I pray that our fatality count doesn’t go up,” Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloche-Reed told reporters. “But I believe that there’s a large potential to.”
The blaze broke out about 11:30 p.m. at a live-work space, where between 50 and 100 people had gathered for a dance party featuring music by electronic band Golden Donna.
Firefighters spotted nine bodies in the burning carnage, but they were unable to pull any of them out, and they haven't been able to search the entire building due to fears that it was not structurally safe.
Massive fire breaks out at North Brunswick car dealership
The two-story building houses a group of artists and their studios, officials said. Firefighters found sculptures, mannequins and "a flea market" of other artistic items inside the warehouse,Deloche-Reed said.
The artists’ studios were separated by makeshift partitions, and the second floor — where most of the bodies were found — was especially difficult to navigate, Deloche-Reed said.
“There wasn’t a real clear entry or exit path up on the second floor,” she said. “The way the building was situated, it really made it difficult for people to escape.”
There was just a single stairwell for the entire warehouse, and the steps of the "makeshift" staircase appeared to be made out of “pallets,” Deloche-Reed said.
Fire rips through Brooklyn warehouse Saturday morning
Firefighters assess the scene where a fire tore through a warehouse party Friday night.
(Josh Edelson/AP)The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
Less than a month ago, the building and its owner was whacked with complaints, questioning the legality of the building’s interior and reporting toxic garbage piling up outside, the East Bay Express reported.
On Nov. 14, city inspectors visited the warehouse after someone reported an “illegal interior building structure.” The investigation into the complaint was still pending when the fire erupted Friday. A second complaint filed a day later alleged that “a ton of garbage piling up on the property” contained hazardous materials.
Woman, 85, critically injured in Bronx apartment building blaze
The two November complaints are the last in a history of citations agonist the warehouse and its owner Chor N. Ng. In 2014, the city cited Ng for renovating the building without proper permits and for blight after a mass of pallets amassed on the sidewalk.
Emergency workers work the scene Saturday morning, just hours after the fire broke out.
(JOHN G. MABANGLO/EPA)There did appear to be at least two fire extingishers in the building,Deloche-Reed said.
Building resident Bob Mule, a photographer, escaped the blaze and tried to help a friend get out, too — but the flames grew too intense and he was forced to evacuate alone.
“It was too hot, too much smoke. I had to get out of there,” toldthe East Bay Times reported. “I literally felt my skin peeling and my lungs being suffocated by smoke. I couldn’t get the fire extinguisher to work.”
Panicked loved ones posted photos of the missing attendees on the dance party’s Facebook page. Others who were at the event wrote that they were OK after the disaster.
At least nine people were killed in the blaze at a antists' loft space in Oakland's Fruitvale district.
(@Oaklandfirelive via Twitter)Golden Donna was in the space playing as part of its 100% Silk 2016 West Coast Tour. The band, based out of Wisconsin, “draws on genres ranging from psych to house music to create layered tracks built on powerful, danceable rhythms,” according to its Facebook page.
With News Wire Services
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
No comments:
Post a Comment