Search completed at Oakland warehouse in fire that killed 36 | Reuters

By Curtis Skinner | OAKLAND, Calif. OAKLAND, Calif. Authorities said they have concluded their search on Wednesday of an Oakland, California, warehouse gutted by a fast-moving fire that killed 36 people during a dance party.The blaze erupted on Friday in a sprawling two-story building known as the Ghost Ship, which was leased to an artists’ collective. It was the deadliest blaze in the United States since 100 people perished in a 2003 nightclub fire in Rhode Island.“The recovery effort is complete and no additional victims were found,” City of Oakland spokeswoman Karen Boyd said in an email.Officials have proclaimed a local state of emergency, potentially allowing for state and federal funds to help cover the costs of the response to the inferno. The declaration is set to go before the City Council for ratification on Thursday.Investigators are seeking to determine the origin of the blaze. “(A) refrigerator is something that they’re looking at as a potential source of ignition,” U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent Jill Snyder told reporters.The coroner’s office has concluded autopsies on most of the victims, and the cause of death in all those cases was determined to be smoke inhalation, Alameda County Sheriff’s Office spokesman J.D. Nelson said by phone. That is typical on a major fire, he said. Survivors said the flames spread quickly and billowing thick, black smoke blinded and choked those struggling to flee. Officials have said arson was not immediately suspected. However, charges ranging from involuntary manslaughter to murder could be brought, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley told reporters on Monday.The dance party was held on the warehouse’s second floor, which has partially collapsed. The 10,000-square-foot (900-square-metre) building lacked sprinklers and smoke detectors, and wooden pallets partially formed a makeshift stairway between the first and second floors, officials have said. It had just two exterior doors. City officials released complaint and inspection logs for the warehouse, which showed three complaints against the location were recorded by the city’s building and planning department from 2005 to 2014.The logs also showed that an inspector visited the site on Nov. 17 to investigate a complaint about an “illegal interior building structure” but was unable to gain entry. The records indicate an investigator did not return to the scene before Friday’s deadly blaze. (Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; editing by James Dalgleish and Richard Chang)

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