Refrigerator May Have Been the Cause of Deadly Oakland Warehouse Fire

Investigators on Tuesday said a refrigerator may have been the source of the deadly warehouse fire that killed 36 people in Oakland, California, according to the Associated Press.

Alexandria Corneiro, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told the Los Angeles Times the refrigerator and other electrical items inside the Ghost Ship warehouse were being examined as a potential ignition source.

According to KTVU, a survivor of the deadly blaze told police they saw flames coming from the refrigerator.

Officials also said the fire did not appear to have been intentional and the death toll is not expected to go higher.

Video from October showed Oakland police officers inside the Ghost Ship warehouse, two months before the fire. NBC News obtained footage of authorities inside the building while responding to a neighbor’s party.

The Ghost Ship landlord, Derick Almena, helped officials get access to the rooftop.

The City of Oakland requires yearly fire inspections for residential and commercial properties. However, when inspectors visited the building on Nov. 17, they could not gain access, according to city records reviewed by the San Jose Mercury News.

Many have blamed the Bay Area’s housing crisis for forcing lower-income individuals into illegal and unsafe living spaces like the Ghost Ship.

Almena said in an interview with Today on Tuesday that the building was up to code when he signed the lease and that he was forced to make numerous improvements such as installing a hot water heater and a new electrical panel.

Micah Allison, his partner, told NBC News in an interview that aired Monday that they could not afford the safety upgrades.

“We didn’t have enough money to do the things that needed to be done there and there was no one helping us,” she said.