Prosecutor interviewed several people and said investigators will search city records, which show a history of code violations, and examine the wreckage

Oakland investigators are trying to determine whether anyone can be held criminally liable for a warehouse fire that killed at least 36 people, officials said on Monday, as search teams spent a third day sifting through the ashes and debris of the artist collective.

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District attorney Nancy O’Malley said an expert from her office had joined the search teams alongside federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. At an afternoon press conference, O’Malley said the ruins of the warehouse are considered “a potential crime scene” but that “it’s too premature to know where the investigation will lead us”.

“Many have asked us what kind of criminal charges are available to us,” O’Malley said. “The question is whether or not the range of charges could be murder all the way to involuntary manslaughter, and [will be] until we know what the evidence shows us.”

The prosecutor said that her office has interviewed several people “who have connectivity to this facility” but declined to give specifics. She added that investigators will search through city records, which have shown a history of code violations at the site, and examine the disaster wreckage.

“My staff will put on hazmat suits and just start going through debris,” she said.

Alameda County sheriff Gregory Ahern said police have tentatively identified 33 of the 36 victims and notified 16 families. Earlier on Monday, police named a handful of victims, whose ages ranged from their 20s to their 30s. The young people included a young teacher, musicians, the son of a deputy sheriff and local university students and graduates. Three of the unnamed victims were not US citizens, Ahern said: one was from Finland, one from South Korea and one from Guatemala.

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Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf said the city’s priority remains identifying victims and notifying families. “Today is the day that more than two dozen families will learn of a loved one lost,” she said. “This is day one for those families.”

Deputy fire chief Darren White said search teams were forced to pause their work on Monday because of fears that part of the ruins could collapse, and that they would resume once the structure was fortified. He said they had searched about 70% of the warehouse and that investigators believed they were narrowing down the likely origin site of the fire.

“At this point we’re not anticipating any more huge numbers,” Ahern said. He added that about 50 remain unaccounted for, but many of those people live in the area and “are not directly associated with the building”.



The fire began about 11.30pm on Friday and quickly tore through the crowded warehouse. Firefighters reached the warehouse within three minutes of being called, officials said, but were not able to extinguish all the fires until after 4am.

The warehouse was under investigation for code violations and neighborhood complaints, officials said, but an inspector had been unable to enter the building to verify reports of illegal construction inside. The building had a permit to serve as a storage warehouse, but lacked permits for residence, workplaces or hosting parties. City records showed a history of violations, and former residents said that the warehouse was cluttered with furniture, trinkets, makeshift shelters, trailers and RVs, and a staircase built of wooden pallets.

Schaaf alluded to the fraught conversations that the city would have to confront, including the rising costs of housing, growing inequality in the Bay Area, and the city’s vibrant art groups.

“Everything from unsafe warehouses to Oakland’s incredible cultural community, these are all issues that I know that us as a community we are going to discuss,” Schaaf said.