As the flames bore down on them, several victims of the Ghost Ship warehouse fire texted goodbye messages to their families.

Some texted, “I’m going to die,” followed by, “I love you,” Sgt. Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, said Monday. It was the last their relatives heard from them.

The fire spread so quickly Friday night that the victims attending the Oakland electronic music show — most of them in their 20s or 30s — had little time to react before they were overcome.

Back to Gallery Oakland fire victims’ texts to loved ones: ‘I’m... 97 1 of 97 Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle 2 of 97 Photo: Brendan Dreaper, Associated Press 3 of 97 Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP 4 of 97 5 of 97 6 of 97 Photo: Courtesy of Bottom of the Hill 7 of 97 Photo: via Facebook 8 of 97 Photo: via Facebook 9 of 97 10 of 97 Photo: Jeremy Danger 11 of 97 Photo: via KQED 12 of 97 Photo: via Facebook 13 of 97 Photo: Photo provided by Dan Vega 14 of 97 Photo: via Facebook 15 of 97 Photo: courtesy Brendan Dreaper 16 of 97 Photo: Terry Ewing, AP 17 of 97 Photo: via Facebook 18 of 97 Photo: courtesy of Josh Howes 19 of 97 Photo: via Facebook 20 of 97 Photo: Courtesy, Family of Edmond Lapine II 21 of 97 Photo: via Facebook 22 of 97 Photo: via Facebook 23 of 97 Photo: Photo courtesy Grace Lovio 24 of 97 Photo: Gabrielle Lurie, The Chronicle 25 of 97 Photo: Courtesy of Anna Mendiola 26 of 97 Photo: via Facebook 27 of 97 Photo: courtesy of Fritz family 28 of 97 Photo: Courtesy Gary Plotkin 29 of 97 Photo: Hand out, Courtesy Elecia Holland 30 of 97 Photo: via Facebook 31 of 97 Photo: Devin Askounis, AP 32 of 97 Photo: Taura Horn 33 of 97 Photo: Hand out, Courtesy Elecia Holland 34 of 97 Photo: via Shazam 35 of 97 Photo: Kathy Vega, Associated Press 36 of 97 37 of 97 Photo: Timothy Archibald 38 of 97 Photo: Wittenauer family 39 of 97 Photo: Gabrielle Lurie, The Chronicle 40 of 97 Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP 41 of 97 Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle 42 of 97 Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle 43 of 97 Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle 44 of 97 Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle 45 of 97 Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle 46 of 97 Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle 47 of 97 Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle 48 of 97 Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP 49 of 97 Photo: Elijah Nouvelage, Getty Images 50 of 97 Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle 51 of 97 Photo: City of Oakland 52 of 97 Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle 53 of 97 Photo: JIM WILSON, NYT 54 of 97 Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images 55 of 97 Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle 56 of 97 Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images 57 of 97 Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images 58 of 97 Photo: Alameda County Sheriff's Office 59 of 97 Photo: Gabrielle Lurie, The Chronicle 60 of 97 Photo: Gabrielle Lurie, The Chronicle 61 of 97 Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle 62 of 97 Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle 63 of 97 Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle 64 of 97 Photo: AFP/AFP/Getty Images 65 of 97 Photo: Pete Kiehart, Special to The Chronicle 66 of 97 Photo: Pete Kiehart, Special to The Chronicle 67 of 97 Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez, Associated Press 68 of 97 Photo: Francine Orr/LA Times via Getty Images 69 of 97 Photo: Pete Kiehart, Special to The Chronicle 70 of 97 Photo: Noah Berger / Special to The Chronicle 71 of 97 Photo: Noah Berger, Special to The Chronicle 72 of 97 Photo: Pete Kiehart, Special to The Chronicle 73 of 97 Photo: Pete Kiehart, Special to The Chronicle 74 of 97 Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images 75 of 97 Photo: Noah Berger, Special to The Chronicle 76 of 97 Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle 77 of 97 Photo: James Tensuan, Special to The Chronicle 78 of 97 Photo: Pete Kiehart, Special to The Chronicle 79 of 97 Photo: Amy Osborne, Special To The Chronicle 80 of 97 Photo: Amy Osborne, Special To The Chronicle 81 of 97 Photo: Santiago Mejia, The Chronicle 82 of 97 Photo: Noah Berger, Special to The Chronicle 83 of 97 Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images 84 of 97 Photo: Max Bouvatte, Special to the Chronicle 85 of 97 Photo: Darin Marshall 86 of 97 Photo: Darin Marshall 87 of 97 Photo: Max Bouvatte, Special to the Chronicle 88 of 97 Photo: Pete Kiehart, Special to The Chronicle 89 of 97 Photo: Pete Kiehart, Special to The Chronicle 90 of 97 Photo: Noah Berger, Special to The Chronicle 91 of 97 Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images 92 of 97 Photo: Noah Berger / Special to The Chronicle 2016 93 of 97 Photo: Noah Berger, Special to The Chronicle 94 of 97 Photo: Pete Kiehart, Special to The Chronicle 95 of 97 Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle 96 of 97 Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle 97 of 97 Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

































































































































































































Witnesses said some were trapped on the second floor when the ramshackle wooden stairs became impassable because of fire. Others were simply overwhelmed where they stood. As of Monday evening, 36 bodies had been recovered.

“We have found people that have died in each other’s arms, protecting each other, holding each other,” Kelly said.

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



