As Oakland probed, party host promoted event

Jon Hrabko had been promoting the party for weeks on Facebook as an “insane lineup” of electronic dance music performers.

“Come catch this set before it disappears,” one post by the 31-year-old Oakland resident read. “Holler!”

“Getting pretty pumped up for this rager Friday! Oakland! Don’t sleep!” read another.

Hrabko promoted the event publicly even as city officials investigated complaints on Nov. 13 about blight and unapproved construction inside the converted warehouse known to artists and musicians as the Ghost Ship.

But authorities never got inside the building, which they said had a permit to operate only as a warehouse, and it’s unclear what Hrabko knew about conditions there or complaints.

Jon Hrabko, seen in this Face book profile photo, is among the promoters of the event. Jon Hrabko, seen in this Face book profile photo, is among the promoters of the event. Image 1 of / 75 Caption Close As Oakland probed, party host promoted event 1 / 75 Back to Gallery

What is clear is that excitement for the electronic dance music party was building on social media. Nearly 600 people on Facebook said they planned to attend, and more than 1,000 said they were interested.

Facebook limits the number of people a user can invite to an event, and after he hit the limit, Hrabko posted a message asking friends to help get the word out about the party.

“If you have the time, I (and the other performers) would really appreciate if you could invite as many of your friends as possible and share this event on your page for maximum visibility. They can limit our invites but Not gonna let them limit our fun. We shall rise up, overcome, and dance on the ruins. Stay safe out there.”

On the night of the fire, Hrabko was working the door at the building at the corner of 31st Avenue and International Boulevard and was able to escape. On Saturday, he spent several hours at the Eli’s Mile High Club with members of the city’s tight-knit music community as everyone waited for word about the missing.

At Eli’s, Hrabko spoke to a Chronicle reporter and confirmed he was a party organizer but refused to give his surname, identifying himself only as Jon.

He said some of the missing were people he had hired to work the show.

“I watched that building burn for five hours,” he said. “Those people didn’t walk out.”

He stayed at Eli’s for hours afterward, mourning with musicians, friends of performers and others. Several of the mourners went up to him and hugged him. Looking tired, he called the incident a tragedy.

On Sunday, someone answered Hrabko’s phone once, but hung up quickly. A post on his Facebook page showed an emoji of a broken heart and the cover photo was changed to show a screen shot of a friend’s comment from the morning after the fire:

“I love you man. We did everything we could ... i had to stop you from going back into the building.... We saved alot of people at the front door. Dont ever let me hear you saying what u were saying last night about fault ever f***** again I love you.”

The numerous posts on his Facebook page that had promoted the event as far back as October were gone.

Meanwhile, the Facebook page for the event itself became an online memorial for the dozens of people killed. Authorities said the process of identifying the remains and notifying families would take time, and they released only several names Sunday.

Hrabko describes himself on LinkedIn as a self-employed independent fine art professional with a degree in electronic music from UC Santa Cruz. He was listed on Facebook as one of 12 hosts for the show. Six of the hosts were among those who were missing after the fire and listed on the event memorial page.

Condolences from around the world filled the page.

“Deepest condolences from Massachusetts,” read one post. “Love & solidarity from Sweden,” read another.

Jill Tucker and Jenna Lyons are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com, jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker, @JennaJourno