The Latest: More victims in Oakland fire publicly identified


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OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on a deadly fire in an Oakland warehouse (all times local):

10 p.m.

Authorities are publicly identifying more of those killed in the fire.

The Alameda County Coroner's Bureau released the names of 9 more victims who have been positively identified.

The identities were contained in a news release issued late Thursday by the city of Oakland.

The release says the nine were men and women in their 20s and 30s, and most came from the San Francisco Bay Area.

Authorities say that of the 36 people who died, 35 have been identified. Most, but not all of those who have been identified, have been publicly named.

The fire erupted during a dance party late Friday night.

7 p.m.

Oakland city officials say a building inspector who went to an Oakland warehouse before a deadly fire but couldn't get inside sent a request to the owner to gain entry.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said Tuesday the building inspector followed routine procedure when unable to gain entry to a property. That procedure is to contact the owner. She did not reveal the outcome of that request.

City and state officials fielded years of complaints about dangerous conditions, drugs, neglected children, trash, thefts and squabbles at the warehouse, raising questions about why it wasn't shut down.

A building inspector went to the site on Nov. 17 after receiving a complaint of illegal interior construction. City officials have said he wasn't allowed inside.

Schaaf said building inspectors typically cannot force entry to a property unless there are pressing circumstances.

Meanwhile, sheriff's officials said they have identified 35 of the 36 victims and notified 30 families.

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3:45 p.m.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says it is looking at the possibility that a refrigerator or other appliance was the source of a warehouse fire that killed 36 people.

Jill Snyder, the special agent in charge of the ATF's San Francisco office, said it's too early to say for sure a refrigerator caused the blaze, but she said it was a potential source of ignition. Snyder said investigators are looking at anything electrical on the first floor of the warehouse near where the fire started.

The fire broke out during a dance party Friday night. Crews have searched 90 percent of the building for bodies. Sheriff's officials said they don't think additional bodies will be found.

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3 p.m.

Authorities have taken family members of victims of the Oakland warehouse fire to the scene of the blaze.

A handful of family members gathered Tuesday around a tent in front of the warehouse.

They cried and hugged. One woman with flowers was escorted by a deputy to a nearby memorial site.

The fire broke out during a dance party Friday night, killing 36 people. Crews have searched 90 percent of the building for bodies. Sheriff's officials don't think additional bodies will be found.

___

2:45 p.m.

Oakland fire officials say they have finished searching 90 percent of the warehouse where 36 people died in a fire during a dance party.

Oakland Fire Deputy Chief Darin White said Tuesday crews should complete the remaining 10 percent by midnight.

Fire officials started knocking down parts of the building that they said were structurally unsound. They said the debris will fall on areas that have already been searched for bodies.

The fire broke out during a dance party Friday night.

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6:20 a.m.

The death toll stands at 36 on Tuesday with no change overnight in the number of bodies recovered in what remains of an Oakland warehouse.

Alameda County Sheriff's Deputy Tya Modeste says 36 bodies have been recovered and 26 of their families have been notified. Modeste says another nine bodies have been "tentatively identified." Officials are still lacking any type of identity for one individual.

Fire crews have resumed search and recovery operations.

Oakland Fire Batallion Chief Robert Lipp says crews have cleared 85 percent of the "Ghost Ship" building with one corner still inaccessible because it is unstable. Crews hope to stabilize it Tuesday and continue their search.

The fire broke out during a dance party Friday night.

___

4:15 a.m.

The founder of an Oakland artists' colony where dozens of people burned to death says he is sorry, but deflected blame for the blaze that gutted the warehouse that he now describes as a "mass grave."

Derick Ion Almena, who leased and operated the warehouse full of artists where the fire erupted Friday, told the "Today Show" on Tuesday that he was 'Incredibly sorry." He said the only reason he was there Tuesday was to put his face and his body in front of the scene.

Almena said he started the community in the warehouse as a dream for the arts and performing arts, but, he said, sometimes "your dream is bigger than your pocketbook."

Almena says he signed a lease for the building that "was to city standards supposedly."

Almena says he lived in the warehouse with his family and other residents, but said he didn't make a profit. He said, "This is not profit; this is loss. This is a mass grave."

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