Obama issues statement on Oakland warehouse fire

“We absolutely believe the number of fatalities will increase”, Chief Drayton said.

Nikki Kelber, a resident of the warehouse that housed artist studios, said she was asleep Friday night and “woke up to smoke and an entire wall of fire”. The party on Friday was reportedly thrown to help pay for rent.

Kelly says rescue crews have found bodies of people “protecting each other, holding each other”.

A vigil for the victims and the missing will be held Monday night.

Several people in the crowd have signs offering “free hugs”. “What else do I have to say?” He said he had gone to a hotel Friday night with his wife and children because he was exhausted.

One survivor, however, said that 18 artists lived inside the warehouse.

“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 burnt exterior of a warehouse in which a fire claimed the lives of at least thirty-three people is seen on December 4, 2016 in Oakland, California.

Oakland officials said they had opened an investigation just last month into the warehouse after numerous complaints filed by neighbors who said trash was piling up outside the property and people were illegally living in the building, which was zoned as a warehouse. The death toll is at 36.

“Anything that would cause a fire or could cause a fire, anything that would inhibit somebody from exiting the building rapidly”, said Columbus Fire Battalion Chief Steve Martin.

The district attorney’s sent a team to search for signs of crime in the warehouse, which was already being investigated by the city for possible code violations, according to Fox News. She said the origin of the fire had yet to be determined and the cause was still unknown. It’s unclear how it started.

Some were from Europe and Asia, and the Oakland authorities are working with the State Department to contact foreign governments, said Sergeant Ray Kelly of the Alameda County Sheriff´s Department, declining to reveal which countries.

“I could never criticize him because I was right there with him hoping that, yeah, maybe your dreams will come true for you”, Randy Wittenauer said.

“They would come in and they would walk through our space and they’d always say, ‘Wow, what an incredible space, ‘ ” Almena said. ‘One of our deputies that we work with lost his son in this fire, and so we’re still dealing with that as we continue to deal with the other victims. They were all California residents in their early 20s to mid 30s.

Eleven of those killed have been identified, but not all the names have been publicly released.

Officials have asked victims’ families to preserve their loved ones’ personal belongings, including hairbrushes and toothbrushes, which could contain DNA samples.

Almena, who is also known as Derick Ion, was criticized after he left what some considered an insensitive post on his Facebook page about 1:30 a.m. Saturday.

Almena spoke briefly to the TV station, saying those who died were his friends and family.