One of the deadliest fires in California took place on Friday night in a warehouse in Oakland. 36 people are dead. Most of the bodies were found near the center of the building involved in the deadly blaze.
On Friday night, a huge blaze broke out in the back of the warehouse during an electronic music party at a Fruitvale district live-work space occupied by an arts collector. The fire spread so quickly that getting out became hard and it was hard for survivors to pull out others. People jumped out of windows because there was no other way out.
After 52 hours of nonstop working, firefighters stopped searching for bodies near midnight because the search crew discovered a sign of instability in one of the walls. Due to this structural weakness, the Oakland Fire Dept. Chief does not want to put more lives at risk.
Deadly Blaze Kills Many
Authorities have searched 70 percent of the building so far. Firefighters hope to resume the search of the remaining thirty percent of the building after the building has been stabilized. The number of fatalities is expected to increase. For now some bodies have been identified.
Cash Askew – 22
David Cline – 23
Travis Hough – 35
Derma Kellog – 32
Sara Hoda – 30
Brandon Chase Wittenauer – 32
Nick Gomez- Hall – 25
Draven McGill – 17 (youngest victim)
It can take weeks to identify all the victims through dental and DNA records. However, the authorities know how important identification is to the families. So, they will continue to search for the identities of the bodies for a while.
A vigil will take place Monday night at Oakland’s Lake Meritt. Mourners should bring flameless candles, flashlights, and glo-sticks to the vigil. If you want to pay your respects to the dead, then you should make plans to bring things to commemorate them.
So many young lives gone…. you never know when your time is up. Appreciate what you have every moment that you can.
Terrible! What a tragedy. More proactive measures need to put in place to curb such situation in the future. Condolence to the families of the departed!