Death toll hits 36 in state’s worst structure fire since 1906

The toll in what is believed to be the deadliest structure fire in California in more than a century hit 36 on Monday, but there were indications that rescuers were near the end of the grim task of removing bodies from the ruins of a converted Oakland warehouse.

The updated count came on a day when Oakland firefighters and Alameda County sheriff’s deputies had to be especially wary of the possibility of wreckage collapsing on them as they hunted for additional victims and evidence for a criminal investigation into the Friday-night fire.

One potentially notable development: Investigators believe they have found the spot where the blaze began inside the Ghost Ship, a live-work space that city officials say lacked permits for either residential use or entertainment such as the electronic music show that drew many of the victims Friday night.

A total of 33 victims have been either positively or tentatively identified and 23 families notified, according to a city news release.

A man bows down in front of a memorial at the scene of the Ghost Ship artist warehouse fire in Oakland, CA, on Monday, December 5, 2016. A man bows down in front of a memorial at the scene of the Ghost Ship artist warehouse fire in Oakland, CA, on Monday, December 5, 2016. Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 74 Caption Close Death toll hits 36 in state’s worst structure fire since 1906 1 / 74 Back to Gallery

Sheriff Gregory Ahern said the casualty count may rise, but “at this time we’re not anticipating any more huge numbers.”

The blaze is now the deadliest structure fire in California since the 1906 earthquake and fire killed hundreds in San Francisco.

At about 10 p.m. Sunday, investigators from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives asked firefighters to cordon off a wall at the center-rear of the building at 31st Avenue and International Boulevard. “We now feel very strongly that we have the section of the building that was the area of origin of where the fire started,” said Battalion Chief Melinda Drayton of the Oakland Fire Department.

She said the location contained telltale marks of an ignition point’s spread as well as twisted, wrapped steel believed to have been caused by extreme heat.

The cause of the blaze is not yet known.

As more details spilled forth from survivors and families, the portrait of tragedy from Friday night became ever more acute.

Witnesses said that when smoke and flames began surging through the building, some concertgoers stayed on the second floor, thinking they might be safer there. By the time the fast-moving blaze ate through the rickety stairs leading below, it was too late.

As the horror bore down on them, some of the victims texted goodbye messages to their families, such as “I’m going to die” and “I love you,” a sheriff’s spokesman said.

The heartbreaking day of searching ended Monday with two candlelight vigils — one in Oakland and the other in San Francisco.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf was among hundreds of people gathered around a white pagoda on the north side of Lake Merritt. People held up cell phones, plastic candles and other light sources, but avoided candles in honor of the victims.

“Look around us — the support is overwhelming,” said Todd Glieden, 50, of Castro Valley, who came to the lake to offer support for several friends who knew fire victims. “I think this shows the better part of Oakland for people who see so much bad.”

In San Francisco, a few dozen members of the transgender community gathered at Harvey Milk Plaza at Market and Castro streets to pray and offer support for those who lost loved ones.

“The fire was horrendous,” said the Rev. Cameron Partridge, 43, a transgender priest at San Francisco’s St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church, as he stood next to an ornate tapestry surrounded by homemade signs with the names of the missing and dead. “We’re realizing increasingly that there were a number of trans folks there that were part of our community.”

The number of victims recovered from the gutted warehouse building grew by three on Sunday night, but work on retrieving more bodies was stopped around midnight because of a “wobbly” wall that made the situation dangerous for firefighters and deputies, Drayton said. The wall was deemed sturdy enough for work to resume in the rest of the building at 9 a.m.

Drayton said workers on the roof of a building next door had noticed the front wall of the warehouse tilting inward by about 3 inches near a parapet of the structure. The wall will have to be shored up before workers can get closer to it, so workers have been concentrating on the rest of the building since getting the go-ahead to go back in.

Sgt. Ray Kelly, a sheriff’s spokesman, said the building took on a lot of water during Friday’s firefight, which added more weight and raised the possibility of an “avalanche” situation of debris. The decision to delay work was made after crews inside began to hear “shifting and creaking,” he said.

Search teams have combed through three-quarters of the ruins, and the last part of the search is focusing on the upper front portion of the warehouse.

President Obama weighed in on the disaster Monday, saying his administration was working “to make sure that authorities have everything they need as they continue response operations and investigate the cause of the fire.”

“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,” Obama said in a statement. “Oakland is one of the most diverse and creative cities in our country, and as families and residents pull together in the wake of this awful tragedy, they will have the unwavering support of the American people.”

Rain that is expected to roll in Wednesday and pick up by the end of the week will not change the rate at which firefighters and deputies work their way through the rubble, Drayton said. “We’re going to be just as comprehensive, just as methodical, just as analytical to make sure we’re successful in a full recovery,” she said.

The developments came one day after District Attorney Nancy O’Malley deployed a criminal investigation team in response to the blaze, which happened in a building that officials said had city permits only for use as a warehouse. O’Malley said Monday that she hadn’t determined yet what charges might be possible, but they may range all the way up to murder.

Residents of the Ghost Ship artists’ collective said several had lived there since 2014. Many among the scores of revelers at the music show described a tangled and makeshift interior that turned exit routes into a deadly, confusing maze as the flames and smoke spread.

Among the dead was Draven McGill, the 17-year-old son of a deputy for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, the agency in charge of recovering and examining bodies from the scene.

Kelly said Draven’s death hammered home the grief even more acutely for a department already shaken emotionally by the disaster.

“That makes this much more personal,” he said. “This hit us, too. It’s hit every cross-section of society here in the Bay Area and all over the world.”

The Rev. Jayson Landeza, a chaplain for the Oakland Fire Department, has been counseling emergency workers. “They’re pretty overwhelmed,” he said. “You see a lot in Oakland, but you don’t see this.”

Memorials near the burned warehouse grew overnight, with dozens of candles, bouquets, handwritten signs, a beer bottle and a whiskey bottle left on street corners. “We miss you Johnny,” read one sign taped to a fence. A picture of one of the apparent victims was captioned: “There is a light and it never goes out.”

People walking by stopped and took a moment to scan the remembrances. Some knelt and wept, others hugged each other silently. A card left open with a pen read: “Oakland loves and will never forget you all.”

Holly Warren-Mordecai, a 47-year-old teacher at a nearby international child development center, was on her way to work when she crouched down to sign an open memorial card. She cried as she wrote, “Our prayers are with you,” wiping away her tears. The community is tight-knit, and she feared the victims would be connected to some students at her school. Her heart was pounding out of her chest, she said.

“I’m terrified about what I’m going to find out today when I get to school,” Warren-Mordecai said. “Either way it’s somebody’s kid. I’m so devastated for the victims.”

San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Kimberly Veklerov contributed

to this report

Hamed Aleaziz and Kevin Fagan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: haleaziz@sfchronicle.com, kfagan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Haleaziz @KevinChron

Finding details on loved ones, tip and help lines, and donation sites

Those who have information about missing people or are searching for relatives after Friday’s fire should contact the Alameda County coroner’s office at (510) 382-3000.

Sites raising money for victims and survivors:

Gofundme: https://www.gofundme.com/ghost-ship-fire-residents-support

Oakland A’s and Oakland Raiders: https://www.youcaring.com/oaklandfirevictimsfrom130531staveinoakland-706680#mlb-oakland

Gray Area Foundation for the Arts: https://www.youcaring.com/firevictimsofoaklandfiredec232016-706684

Alameda County district attorney’s office assistance and tip lines:

Support for survivors and families: Victim-Witness Assistance Division at (510) 272-6180.

Hotline to offer information on the fire or victims: (877) 288-2882