Calif. fire death toll climbs to 33 and includes teens

Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif.

The death toll from a fire that tore through a warehouse hosting a late-night dance party climbed to 33 on Sunday as firefighters painstakingly combed through rubble for others believed to still be missing and made the grim announcement that teenagers were among the dead.

The building that went up in flames was known as the “Ghost Ship,” had been carved into artist studios and was an illegal home for a rotating cast of a dozen or more people, according to former denizens who said it was a cluttered death trap with few exits, piles of wood and a mess of snaking electric cords.

“If you were going there for a party, you wouldn’t be aware of the maze that you have to go through to get out,” said Danielle Boudreaux, a former friend of the couple who ran the warehouse.

The death toll was expected to rise, as crews using buckets and shovels slowly made their way through the building, finding victims where they least expected them, Alameda County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Kelly said.

“When we started this investigation, if you had told us that you would have 33 victims, we wouldn’t have believed you,” Kelly said. “I don’t know how many people are left in there.”

The victims include 17-year-olds and people from Europe and Asia and range in age from their teens to 30-plus years old, Kelly said. Officials used fingerprints to identify eight people who were killed, though they have not released the identifications.

Among the dead was Donna Kellogg, according to her father, Keith Slocum. He declined additional comment.

Anxious family members who feared the worst gathered at the sheriff’s office to await word on their loved ones. They were told they may have to provide DNA samples to help identify remains.

As many as 100 people were there for a party Friday when the fire broke out just before midnight. Fire officials still were investigating the cause of the blaze, but they said clutter fueled the flames, there were no sprinklers inside and few exits to escape.

Boudreaux identified the operators of the Satya Yuga collective as Derick Ion Almena and Micah Allison. She had a falling out with Almena when she convinced Allison’s parents and sister about a year ago that the warehouse was a dangerous place for the couple’s three children to live.

Almena did not immediately respond to emails or phone numbers associated with him. Authorities declined to talk about the manager, saying they were focused on recovering bodies and consoling families.