Refrigerator May Have Started Ghost Ship Fire
Sheriff’s investigators said Tuesday a faulty refrigerator may have been responsible for a deadly Oakland, California, warehouse fire that left at least three dozen people dead.
Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern said a witness told investigators flames were coming from the refrigerator, which left scorch marks on a back wall, indicating it could have been the source of the blaze at the Ghost Ship Warehouse.
So far, authorities have recovered 36 bodies, two of which appeared to have been hugging when they died, Ahern said.
"For our people to see that, it was very emotional for them," he said. They appeared to have fallen from a higher floor onto the top of one of the seven recreational vehicles in the center of the building.
Ahern said recovery workers don’t expect to find any more bodies. Just one of the victims remains unidentified.
Alameda Sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Kelly said Monday a number of the victims texted loved ones as the flames closed in.
“I’m going to die,” followed by, “I love you,” Kelly said.
Derick Ion Almena, the leader of the Ghost Ship artists collective, told NBC’s “Today” show he is “incredibly sorry” about what happened and likened the burned-out structure to “a mass grave.” He said he was only trying to bring people together by establishing the facility, which he ran like a quasi-commune.
Almena, 47, signed a lease for the space three years ago but did not have permits for people to live there or to hold parties like the one Friday night that ended in tragedy.
The interview was cut short when Almena began an emotional rant after expressing anger at the questions he was being asked.
As of Tuesday afternoon, investigators still had to search 15 percent of the building, but needed to wait until exterior bracing could be put into place.
The fire is under investigation by the District Attorney’s Office. District Attorney Nancy O’Malley said murder charges were possible.
Here is a partial list of the victims:
Cash Askew, 22, Oakland
Em Bohlka, 33, Oakland
Brandon Chase Wittenauer, 32, Hayward, California
David Clines, 35, Oakland
Micah Danemayer, 28, Oakland
Chelsea Dolan, 33, San Francisco
Justin Fritz, 29, Berkeley, California
Alex Ghassan, 35, Oakland
Nick Gomez-Hall, 25, Coronado, California
Michela Gregory, 20, South San Francisco
Sara Hoda, 30, Walnut Creek, California
Travis Hough, 35, Oakland
Ara Jo, 29, Oakland
Donna Kellogg, 32, Oakland
Edmund Lapine, 34, Oakland
Draven McGrill, 17, Dublin
Jennifer Morris, 21, Foster City, California
Benjamin Runnels, 32, Oakland
Jennifer Kiyomi Taouye, 31, Oakland
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