Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images(OAKLAND, Calif.) — Oakland city officials identified 10 more victims of the deadly warehouse that is being blamed for 36 deaths.
The victims identified Monday night range in age from 21 to 35 and hailed mostly from the Bay Area.
Authorities are not expecting the death toll to rise further, said Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahren. There is currently a list of 50 people who are unaccounted for, but not all of the missing may be directly related to the fire, Ahren said.
Of the 36 victims, 22 have been positively identified and their families have been notified, the city said in a statement. An additional 10 victims have been tentatively identified and three victims need scientific identification. Three of the victims were from outside the country — Finland, Korea and Guatemala.
The Oakland Fire Department first responded to reports of a structure fire at the warehouse known as the Ghost Ship around 11:32 p.m. Friday night. Reed told reporters the facility appeared to function as a residential building that hosted a makeshift artists’ studio as well as parties like the one that took place Friday night.
Authorities Sunday asked families with missing loved ones who attended the party to preserve DNA samples as a way of confirming the identities of those who died in the blaze, and the District Attorney’s Office launched a criminal investigation into the incident.
Investigators are trying to determine whether there was criminal liability, and if so, against whom, said Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley. If charges are brought, they could range from murder to involuntary manslaughter.
Reed said Monday morning the history of the building is being examined for clues about how the tragedy took place.
“The city of Oakland is still looking at the history with the building … We’ve got a vibrant community in Oakland that we embrace, and we obviously want to make sure that we’re preventing any disasters like this in the future,” she said.
Oakland police have responded to numerous calls about the warehouse in the past, the department said, but it is unclear how many.
President Obama released a statement Monday, saying his administration is in close contact with state and local entities to help ensure that authorities have the resources needed to investigate its cause.
The president also offered a note of condolence:
“Today our prayers go out to the people of Oakland, California in the aftermath of this weekend’s deadly warehouse fire — one of the worst fires in the state’s history,” the statement said. “While we still don’t know the full toll of this disaster, we do know that an American community has been devastated, and many people — including young men and women with their whole futures ahead of them — have tragically lost their lives. I want to thank the dedicated first responders who have been working tirelessly for days to contain the situation, recover victims, and treat the wounded.”
Speaking to ABC News Monday, Oakland residents described often tenuous housing situations in the area, where large numbers of people frequently live in small or makeshift spaces.
The Oakland-based weekly newspaper East Bay Express previously blamed gentrification and rising rents in the Bay Area for putting the region’s counter-cultural arts scene in a crisis of space and money.
Authorities said Monday morning that firefighters were encountering obstacles in their search because of the precarious nature of the structure.
Reed said firefighters are taking mental health breaks as a way of coping with the exhausting and traumatic job they are undertaking.
“We set up at our union hall yesterday for the anticipation of many firefighters that just wanted to kind of watch football together and chill, eat some pizza, debrief with peers before going home to their families. Sometimes it helps to kind of offload those emotions before bringing it home,” she told GMA.
“We’ve got our peer-support group off the scene, available offsite. We have an incredible number of new firefighters who are realizing the somber effect of a very dangerous fire and the tragic loss in our community.”
Rain is expected in the region Wednesday, which could further complicate recovery efforts for firefighters.
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