AUTHORITIES in the San Francisco Bay Area say they are prepared to deal with up to 30 deaths after a fire broke out at a warehouse party in Oakland, California.

Alameda County Sheriff’s Sargent Ray Kelly said overnight that nine people are confirmed dead, and he expects that number to rise.

Oakland fire chief Teresa Deloche-Reed said at least another 25 people were unaccounted for in what authorities were calling the most deadly building fire in the city in recent memory.

The victims were believed to be mostly young people in their 20s, Sgt. Ray Kelly. He said as many as 40 may have perished and that the coroner is preparing for a “mass casualty event” that could include victims from other countries.

Since his statement, up to two dozen people thought missing have been found.

Photos posted online of the warehouse - called the “Oakland Ghost Ship” - show a bohemian, loft-like interior made of wood and cluttered with beds, rugs, old sofas, pianos, paintings, turntables, statues and other items. Neighbors had complained of trash piling up outside the property and concerns the garbage posed a danger, according to the city’s Planning and Building Department website.

“It was just a labyrinth of little areas. We knew people were in there, and we were trying to get them out. But it was just a labyrinth,” Oakland deputy fire chief Mark Hoffmann told reporters.

TERRIBLE TOLL

Fire tore through the Oakland warehouse converted into artist studios during a late night dance party event advertised as ‘Rave Cave’.

Officials said people either escaped from the cluttered building or died inside, where the only way down from the second story was via a stairwell constructed entirely of wooden pallets.

“It appears that either you got out or you got trapped inside,” said Alameda County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly.

Firefighters used chain saws and axes to cut through the debris of the cluttered building in a gritty neighborhood of this San Francisco Bay Area city.

Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloche-Reed said between 50 and 100 people were at the warehouse at the time of the fire.

Deloche-Reed says the building didn’t have a clear exit path and was not equipped with sprinklers.

“We still have to do a more thorough search of the building and we don’t know the potential number of other victims,” Ms Deloche-Reed said.

“Right now there are 25 names of people that have not been accounted for.

“This is a true loss for the city, for the firefighters who responded, and the people who lost family and friend. It’s just tragic, a real tragedy.”

HARROWING ACCOUNTS

Building resident Bob Mule, a photographer, escaped the blaze and tried to help a friend get out, too — but the flames grew too intense and he was forced to evacuate alone.

“It was too hot, too much smoke. I had to get out of there,” told the East Bay Times reported. “I literally felt my skin peeling and my lungs being suffocated by smoke. I couldn’t get the fire extinguisher to work.”

Mr Mule, said he lives at the building and suffered onlyminor burns.

Those who escaped the club have been posting on social media looking for missing friends, while others have posted on the club’s event page to say they escaped the fire unharmed.

It is not yet known how the fire started, but the two-storey structure was also a live-work space for 50 people, the East Bay Times said.

Panicked friends and family posted messages on the group’s Facebook page trying to find out if their loved ones were among the dead. Those searching for the missing were sent to a local sheriff’s office, where Dan Vega was anxiously awaiting news.

"Hoping for best, but prepared for worst," friend of 3 missing DJs says #oaklandfire pic.twitter.com/seOGqnyH6J — Matthias Gafni (@mgafni) December 3, 2016

He had been unable to find his younger brother or his brother’s girlfriend. Vega said he was not sure if the two were at the party but that his brother likes to go to raves and he had not been able to reach him Saturday. His girlfriend’s car was still parked at a transit station in San Bruno, south of San Francisco.

Fighting tears, Dan Vega said he’s frustrated authorities hadn’t been able to tell him anything about his 22-year-old brother.

“I just want to go over there. I have my work boots on, I’m ready to go,” Dan Vega said. “Just give me some gloves. I’ll help out any way, shape or form, I don’t care. This is infuriating. I don’t know where my brother’s at. I just want to find him.”

MAKESHIFT STUDIO

The warehouse was known as the “Oakland Ghost Ship.” A website included advertisements for various electronic music parties. There there was an event featuring musician Golden Donna’s 100% Silk West Coast tour scheduled at the time of the fire.

The artists’ studios were separated by makeshift partitions, and the second floor — where most of the bodies were found — was especially difficult to navigate, Deloche-Reed said.

“There wasn’t a real clear entry or exit path up on the second floor,” she said. “The way the building was situated, it really made it difficult for people to escape.”

There is no evidence that smoke detectors were activated.

Crews found flames on three sides of the building, Battalion Chief Lisa Baker told the East Bay Times.

The fire was reportedly under control when conditions changed suddenly and firefighters had to go back outside.

“There is still a large portion of the building that still needs to be searched,” the fire chief said. “There is large timber and debris that will need to be removed and it’s going to have to be removed in a slow and methodical way.”

The fire caused the building’s roof to collapse and investigators were having trouble entering parts of the warehouse to search for any remaining bodies because the structure was deemed unsafe, Deloche-Reed said.

Darin Ranelletti, of the City of Oakland Planning Department, says the city had received reports of people living illegally in the building, which was only permitted as a warehouse. They opened an investigation on November 13. He says an investigator went to the premises on November 17 but could not gain access to the inside of the building Ranelletti says they had not yet confirmed people were living inside.