At least 9 dead, many missing in fire at Oakland party

At least nine people were killed and 25 others were unaccounted for after the worst building fire in decades in Oakland tore through a funky, two-story artists collective packed with people attending a music party, authorities said Saturday.

The blaze ignited around 11:30 p.m. Friday in the large converted warehouse at 1305 31st Ave. at International Boulevard, in the Fruitvale neighborhood, while as many as 100 people were inside for a performance by the Golden Donna 100 Percent Silk touring electronic dance music show.

Firefighters said some victims were apparently trapped when they couldn’t flee down a makeshift stairwell leading to the second floor that was built out of wooden pallets.

There was no evidence the building had a sprinkler system, said Fire Chief Teresa Deloach Reed.

Authorities were asking those who had information about missing people to contact the Alameda County coroner’s office at (510) 382-3000.

Too shaken to speak further as he huddled with musician friends to mourn, he called the fire “a tragedy, a loss of vibrant musicians and artists.”

Al Garcia, the owner of Reed Supply Co. across the street from the burned building, said his sister lives near the warehouse and called him around midnight to tell him about the inferno.

Terry Ewing, whose girlfriend was at the show and still missing Saturday, stood stone-faced outside the Alameda County Sheriff's Office on East 12th Street, which had been converted into an assistance center for survivors and families searching for missing loved ones.

“Some friends came to my house this morning and told me there was a fire, and that we were missing some people,” he said, shaking his head.

Joel Shanahan, the electronic musician from Madison, Wis., who performs as Golden Donna, the party’s headline act, was confirmed to be safe by associates who posted the news on social media.

Friends of the musicians said the building was an artists enclave known as “the Oakland Ghost Ship.”

A large, gray-walled warehouse with a skull and other ornate artwork painted outside, the complex was filled with personalized, hand-built spaces tailored for musicians and artisans.

Pictures of the building and descriptions from those who had been in it portray a fantastical interior of tapestries, instruments and ornately carved ceiling and room structures.

The people who lived there, he said, had been trying to clean it up, painted the facade and adding the words “Ghost Ship” across the front.

North of the warehouse at Eli’s Mile High Club, a dozen musicians who were friends of the performers at the show and the audience gathered Saturday to wait and mourn.

On social media, friends of the victims and the many missing partygoers desperately sought information, particularly on the Golden Donna tour site, asking for people to confirm who got out of the building — and in some cases expressing grief for those believed to be dead.

Deloach Reed, the fire chief, said it was unclear how many of the 25 missing people might be victims.

A party listing detailed musical acts and deejays.

There’s going to have to be a methodical way we go about body recovery, and then also trying to find out where the fire started and how the fire’s spread took place. ...

The fire chief said the scope of the fire was only just beginning to be fathomed, and that it represented a tragedy for many families.