New York Times reporters are investigating the devastating fire that killed 36 people this month at a warehouse called the Ghost Ship in Oakland, Calif. We’re also doing something new: providing regular updates on our findings. Do you have information, advice or feedback? Send an email to oaklandfire@nytimes.com.

The first update can be found here. The second is here.

A Warehouse Turned Firetrap

As reporters from The Times’s graphics department, we wanted to visualize what had happened and give readers a sense of the space where the disaster unfolded. To do this, we began to recreate a 3D model of the interior of the warehouse.

One of the key things we discovered was that concertgoers trying to escape the deadly fire had to negotiate a narrow, makeshift staircase, and then a circuitous path through a jumble of furniture and found objects.

Below are just a few of the factors we found that contributed to making the inferno one of the worst structure fires in the United States in over a decade.

Second Floor

A Wall of Smoke and a Makeshift Staircase

1 The performance space was often used by underground musicians. On the night of the disaster, a crowd was attending an electronic music performance. 2 Survivors told of a sudden onslaught of smoke and heat, and a dash to the narrow staircase that opened off to the dance floor. 3 Derick Ion Almena, the leaseholder of the Ghost Ship, who rented space to others, lived in this area with his wife and three children. They were at a hotel the night of the fire. Steel roof trusses were covered with wood sheathing. Door to restroom in building next door. 3 Front stairs 2 1 Performance area Stage Steel roof trusses were covered with wood sheathing. Almena living area 3 Front stairs 2 Door to restroom in building next door. 1 Performance area Stage Steel roof trusses were covered with wood sheathing. Door to restroom in building next door. 3 2 Stairs 1 Performance area 1 The performance space was often used by underground musicians. On the night of the disaster, a crowd was attending an electronic music performance. 2 Survivors told of a sudden onslaught of smoke and heat, and a dash to the narrow staircase that opened off to the dance floor. 3 Derick Ion Almena, the leaseholder of the Ghost Ship, who rented space to others, lived in this area with his wife and three children. They were at a hotel the night of the fire.

First Floor

A Warren of Tiny Artist Lofts

4 Described as little more than a ramp in some places, the front stairway made two 90-degree turns onto two landings, one of which was a large pallet, according to Carmen Brito, a resident. 5 The warehouse had a back stairway, but it is unknown if it was used by those fleeing. It would have put survivors far from an exit. 6 Ms. Brito’s loft, near where she said she saw the fire start. Investigators said the fire began in the back of the building. Main exit 31st Avenue 4 Front stairs Lofts for residents, including several travel trailers, were located on the first floor. 5 Back stairs 6 A side exit led to a vacant lot filled with furniture and objects. Main exit 31st Avenue Front stairs 4 Back stairs Lofts for residents were located on the first floor. 5 6 Side exit led to a vacant lot filled with objects. Main exit 31st Avenue Front stairs 4 Lofts for residents, including several travel trailers, were located on the first floor. Back stairs 5 6 A side exit led to a vacant lot filled with furniture and objects. 4 Described as little more than a ramp in some places, the front stairway made two 90-degree turns onto two landings, one of which was a large pallet, according to Carmen Brito, a resident. 5 The warehouse had a back stairway, but it is unknown if it was used by those fleeing. It would have put survivors far from an exit. 6 Ms. Brito’s loft, near where she said she saw the fire start. Investigators said the fire began in the back of the building.

A critical issue to us was why more people didn’t get out. Omar Vega, the proprietor of the automobile shop next door, told us that the front stairway had actually been built by the residents. That space was once occupied by a conveyor belt when the building was used as a warehouse.

Main Entrance

No Direct Route From Stairs to Exit

7 The front stairway exited into an open space, a kind of living room in the communal interior of the warehouse, with no direct route to the front door. 8 The path to the front door led around three pianos, requiring two left turns and a right turn to the street and safety. 9 Survivors reported confusion as they crawled along the floor to escape choking smoke, searching for the front door. Some said they had been saved by someone who kept shouting the exit location from the door. Main exit 31st Avenue Bathrooms Kitchen 9 7 8 Main exit 31st Avenue Bathrooms Kitchen 9 7 8 Main exit 31st Avenue Bathrooms Kitchen 9 7 8 31st Avenue Main exit Bath- rooms Kitchen 9 7 8 7 The front stairway exited into an open space, a kind of living room in the communal interior of the warehouse, with no direct route to the front door. 8 The path to the front door led around three pianos, requiring two left turns and a right turn to the street and safety. 9 Survivors reported confusion as they crawled along the floor to escape choking smoke, searching for the front door. Some said they had been saved by someone who kept shouting the exit location from the door.

A website contained numerous photos of the cluttered interior of the Ghost Ship before it burned. We needed a guide to help us sort through them, and we reached out to Ms. Brito and Nikki Kelber, both of whom had lived there. They described the ornate, bohemian interior in the pictures and gave us a clear idea of the layout.

The Performance Space

The stage had musical instruments, amplifiers and a screen, seen on the left, for electronic shows. The green louvered doors in the center led to the back staircase, and to a hole in the wall that gave access to a bathroom in the building next door.

Getting From the Stairs to the Exit

Bathroom Stairway from second floor Front door Kitchen Stairway from second floor Front door Photograph by Nikki Kelber

The route from the stairway to safety was a maze. “I got lost there the first time I went in,” Ms. Brito said.

A Cluttered Exit Route

This photo shows part of the route from the stairs to the front door, which is to the left of where the photographer is standing. A Garuda statue faces the entrance.

Where the Artists Lived

Ms. Brito’s loft Ms. Brito’s loft

Ms. Brito, 28, lived in a space in the southwest corner of the first floor. From her bed at the top left corner of this photo, she could see a floor-to-ceiling fire near the white door. She ran to safety. On Friday, she went through the building and said her loft was still largely intact.

‘Tinderbox’

The building had few real interior walls, but working and sleeping lofts were partitioned using window sashes, pallets and furniture that one visitor had called a “tinderbox.”

Organs and pianos were scattered around the warehouse. This area was on the second floor, off the performance space. The stairs were just to the right, out of the frame.

Ms. Brito emphasized how difficult it would have been for anyone who didn’t know the place to find the exit in the best of circumstances. And survivors who told their stories to reporters described difficulty on the twisting route to the stairs, down them and then out.