OAKLAND, Calif. — At least nine people died in a blaze that broke out during a party in a warehouse late Friday night in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to fire officials.

Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloche-Reed says at least another 13 people are unaccounted for as of this morning.

The fire started about 11:30 p.m. Friday. It tore through the building during an event featuring musician Golden Donna's 100% Silk West Coast tour, the East Bay Times reports.

Oakland firefighters tweeted video of flames pushing through the roof.

Fire officials said the building had no sprinklers.

Authorities told KTVU-TV about 50 people were inside the building, which houses a group of artists and their studios.

"It was too hot, too much smoke, I had to get out of there," Bob Mule, a photographer and artist who lives at the building and suffered minor burns, told the East Bay Times. "I literally felt my skin peeling and my lungs being suffocated by smoke. I couldn't get the fire extinguisher to work."

People used a Facebook page Saturday to post and seek information on family and friends who may have been in the building.

Oakland police urged those concerned about missing people to call the Alameda County Sheriff's Coroner's Bureau at 510-382-3000.

The office said the coroners were also at the scene Saturday morning and unavailable for comment.</s>BOSTON – Firefighters worked into the night to put down a large fire that jumped from one building to another across a densely populated neighborhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Saturday. Heavy flames engulfed multifamily buildings and several automobiles. Dozens of families were displaced and moved to a temporary shelter. Fire crews were called in from surrounding cities and towns to help after the first calls came about 2 p.m. They were still fighting the blaze long after the sun set. Authorities said two police officers and one firefighter were hurt. Their injuries were believed to be minor.

OAKLAND, Calif. – Firefighters struggled to get to bodies in the rubble Saturday after a fire tore through a converted Oakland warehouse during a late-night electronic music party, killing at least nine people and making the charred structure unsafe for emergency crews to enter. Officials said they feared the death toll could rise as high as 40.

Officials described the scene inside the warehouse, which had been illegally converted into artist studios, as a death trap that made it impossible for many partygoers to escape the Friday night fire. And a day later, the maze of debris and devastation was complicating efforts to extract the bodies.

“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 Saturday afternoon.

He said firefighters had to stop their search-and-rescue operation Saturday afternoon for safety reasons and shore up the structure, but they expected to resume later in the day. The building’s roof had collapsed into the second floor, which in places fell to the bottom floor.

Oakland officials said they had opened an investigation just last month into the warehouse after numerous complaints filed by neighbors who said trash was piling up outside the property and people were illegally living in the building, which was zoned as a warehouse.

Darin Ranelletti of the Oakland Planning Department said the city opened an investigation Nov. 13 and an investigator went to the premises Nov. 17 but could not get inside the building. The city has not confirmed people were living inside.

One survivor, however, said that 18 artists lived inside the warehouse.

Bob Mule said he was one of the artists living in the collective space. He told KGO-TV that he and another person smelled smoke and spotted the fire in a back corner and started yelling.

“The fire went up really, really, really quickly,” he said.

Mule said he tried to help someone who had an injured ankle but couldn’t. “There was a lot of stuff in the way, the flames were too much,” Mule said, trailing off. “I hope, I hope he’s OK.”

The warehouse was known as the “Oakland Ghost Ship.” Its website showed pictures of a bohemian, loft-like interior made of wood and cluttered with rugs, old sofas and a garage-sale-like collection of pianos, paintings, turntables, statues and other items.

It’s unclear what sparked the fire. But officials said the clutter served as a tinderbox and there were no sprinklers inside.

“Something as simple as a cigarette could have started this,” Alameda County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Kelly said, adding that people either escaped from the 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.”

More than 15 hours after the fire started, rescue crews had only recovered four bodies from the building and dozens of people were still unaccounted for, Kelly said. He said the rescue operation was expected to take a minimum of two days. None of the nine dead has been identified.

About 50 to 100 people were believed to have been at the party when the fire started about 11:30 p.m. Friday, officials said.

Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloche-Reed said at least 25 people were unaccounted for. The victims were believed to be people in their 20s, Kelly said. 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.

Panicked friends and family posted messages on the group’s Facebook page trying to find out if their loved ones were among the dead.</s>OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Sheriff says officials prepared to deal with up to 40 deaths in Oakland, California nightclub fire.</s>The blaze started at about 11:30 p.m. on Friday in the two-story warehouse in the city's Fruitvale district, a mostly Latino area that is also home to many artists living and working in converted warehouse lofts.

Fire officials have not yet determined how the fire started or an exact number of fatalities, said Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloach Reed, who called it the worst single-structure fire she had seen in her career.

"It's just so hard to accept that some really wonderful people's lives got cut short," said artist and activist Jenny Yang, 34, waiting for news of missing friends at Eli's, an Oakland bar that opened early as a gathering spot.

Video footage posted on social media showed flames shooting from the structure, which was adorned with elaborate graffiti and colorful murals, as fire vehicles pumped plumes of water and heavy smoke engulfed the neighborhood.

The roof of the warehouse collapsed during the fire, complicating efforts to recover bodies and investigate the blaze, she said at a press briefing.

“There is a large majority of that building that has not been searched,” Reed said, pointing out that some of the 25 missing people may be among the nine confirmed victims.

"We are hoping that the number nine is what there is and that there are no more,” the fire chief said, referring to the number of known fatalities.

Still, authorities were preparing to deal with "several dozen fatalities," said Sergeant Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.

“The roof has collapsed down onto the second floor, so we have to literally go in there piece by piece and move wood and timbers and debris in order to even get an assessment,” he said.

The death toll was expected to rise as authorities entered the building, Kelly said.

Some of those who were missing may have brought themselves to the hospital, Reed said, adding she did not know how many people were at the party or how many lived on the premises.

An arson team has joined the investigation, although there is no immediate evidence that the fire was deliberating set, Reed said.

A Facebook event page showed 176 people planned to attend the party, which featured a performance by the electronic music act Golden Donna.

Parents and others shared contact information on the page and asked anyone with information about the missing to call. "ANY information please!" wrote a woman looking for her son.

At a sheriff’s station not far from the fire, about a dozen people were waiting on Saturday for updates from authorities.

“I don’t have high hopes,” said a woman who had four friends among the missing, declining to give her name. “We’ve just spent the night calling hospitals and listening to police scanners.”

The warehouse housed makeshift artist studios carved out with curtains and other partitions, the fire chief said. The interior was cluttered with "a flea market of items," she said. There was no evidence of any smoke detectors in the building.

The structure had only a single point of entry or exit from the second floor, where most of the dead were found, the chief said. A makeshift staircase appeared to be constructed from pallets.

"It's the worst case scenario we feared because it's an older warehouse," Doug, a man who only gave his first name, said as he waited for news of people who may have been inside.</s>At least nine people died in a blaze that broke out during a party in a warehouse late Friday night in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to fire officials.

Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloche-Reed says at least another 13 people are unaccounted for as of Saturday morning.

The fire started about 11:30 p.m. Friday. It tore through the building during an event featuring musician Golden Donna’s 100% Silk West Coast tour, the East Bay Times reports.

Oakland firefighters tweeted video of flames pushing through the roof.

Fire officials said the building had no sprinklers.

Authorities told KTVU-TV about 50 people were inside the building, which houses a group of artists and their studios.

“It was too hot, too much smoke, I had to get out of there,” Bob Mule, a photographer and artist who lives at the building and suffered minor burns, told the East Bay Times. “I literally felt my skin peeling and my lungs being suffocated by smoke. I couldn’t get the fire extinguisher to work.”

People used a Facebook page Saturday to post and seek information on family and friends who may have been in the building.

Oakland police urged those concerned about missing people to call the Alameda County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau at 510-382-3000.

The office said the coroners were also at the scene Saturday morning and unavailable for comment.</s>The face of a building that was the scene of a overnight fire that claimed the lives of at least nine people at a warehouse in the Fruitvale neighbourhood on Dec. 3, 2016 in Oakland, Calif. The warehouse was hosting an electronic music party. (Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

Firefighters investigate the scene of a overnight fire that claimed the lives of at least nine people at a warehouse in the Fruitvale neighbourhood on Dec. 3, 2016 in Oakland, Calif. The warehouse was hosting an electronic music party. (Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

Firefighters investigate the scene of a overnight fire that claimed the lives of at least nine people at a warehouse in the Fruitvale neighbourhood on Dec. 3, 2016 in Oakland, Calif. The warehouse was hosting an electronic music party. (Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

Fire department members investigate the scene of a overnight fire that claimed the lives of at least nine people at a warehouse in the Fruitvale neighbourhood on Dec. 3, 2016 in Oakland, Calif. The warehouse was hosting an electronic music party. (Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

The face of a building that was the scene of a overnight fire that claimed the lives of at least nine people at a warehouse in the Fruitvale neighbourhood on Dec. 3, 2016 in Oakland, Calif. The warehouse was hosting an electronic music party. (Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

Firefighters investigate the scene of a overnight fire that claimed the lives of at least nine people at a warehouse in the Fruitvale neighbourhood on Dec. 3, 2016 in Oakland, Calif. The warehouse was hosting an electronic music party. (Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

Firefighters investigate the scene of a overnight fire that claimed the lives of at least nine people at a warehouse in the Fruitvale neighbourhood on Dec. 3, 2016 in Oakland, Calif. The warehouse was hosting an electronic music party. (Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

Charred windows on the face of a building that was the scene of a overnight fire that claimed the lives of at least nine people at a warehouse in the Fruitvale neighbourhood on Dec. 3, 2016 in Oakland, Calif. The warehouse was hosting an electronic music party. (Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

The face of a building that was the scene of a overnight fire that claimed the lives of at least nine people at a warehouse in the Fruitvale neighbourhood on Dec. 3, 2016 in Oakland, Calif. The warehouse was hosting an electronic music party. (Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

Charred windows on the face of a building that was the scene of a overnight fire that claimed the lives of at least nine people at a warehouse in the Fruitvale neighbourhood on Dec. 3, 2016 in Oakland, Calif. The warehouse was hosting an electronic music party. (Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloach Reed speaks to the press following an overnight fire that claimed the lives of at least nine people at a warehouse in the Fruitvale neighbourhood on Dec. 3, 2016 in Oakland, Calif. The warehouse was hosting an electronic music party. (Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

Firefighters and police at the scene of a overnight fire that claimed the lives of at least nine people at a warehouse in the Fruitvale neighbourhood on Dec. 3, 2016 in Oakland, Calif. The warehouse was hosting an electronic music party. (Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

Firefighters assess the scene where a fire tore through a warehouse party early Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016 in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Josh Edelson)

Firefighters assess the scene where a fire tore through a warehouse party early Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016 in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Josh Edelson)

This photo provided by @seungylee14 shows the scene of a fire in Oakland, Calif., early Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. ( @seungylee14 via AP)

OAKLAND, Calif. — At least nine people died in a blaze that broke out during a party in a converted warehouse late Friday night in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to fire officials.

Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloche-Reed said at least another 25 people are unaccounted for as of Saturday morning. Authorities are working to verify who was in the building when the fire broke out.

Deloche-Reed said the roof collapsed and that fire investigators will have to search through debris to find any remaining bodies.

Authorities are working to verify who was in the building when the blaze broke out around 11:30 p.m. Friday. It tore through the building during an event featuring musician Golden Donna’s 100% Silk West Coast tour, the East Bay Times reports.

Oakland Firefighters tweeted video of flames pushing through the roof.

The fire chief said what started the fire is unclear, but that there did not appear to be sprinklers in the building.

Authorities told KTVU-TV about 50 people were inside the building, which houses a group of artists and their studios.

“It was too hot, too much smoke, I had to get out of there,” Bob Mule, a photographer and artist who lives at the building and suffered minor burns, told the East Bay Times. “I literally felt my skin peeling and my lungs being suffocated by smoke. I couldn’t get the fire extinguisher to work.”

People used the event's Facebook page Saturday to post and seek information on family and friends who may have been in the building.

Oakland police urged those concerned about missing people to call the Alameda County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau at 510-382-3000.

The office said the coroners were also at the scene Saturday morning and unavailable for comment.

SOME OF THE WORST NIGHTCLUB FIRES

A look at some other nightclub and music venue fires that have exacted terrible death tolls in crowded conditions:

October, 2015: A blaze at the Colectiv nightclub in the Romanian capital of Bucharest killed 64 people and injured nearly 150 others. The fire erupted during a rock concert by the band Goodbye to Gravity. A spark from the band’s pyrotechnic show ignited the foam ceiling, erupting into flames. It’s known as the worst fire in Romania’s modern history.

January, 2013: A fire killed more than 200 people at the Kiss nightclub in the city of Santa Maria in Brazil. Investigators said soundproofing foam on the ceiling caught fire and released poisonous gasses that quickly killed those attending a university party.

December, 2009: Some 152 people died when a blaze broke out at the Lame Horse nightclub in Perm, Russia. It started when an indoor fireworks display ignited a plastic ceiling decorated with branches.

January, 2009: An indoor fireworks display after a New Year’s countdown ignited a blaze in the Santika club in Bangkok, Thailand, killing 67 people and injuring many more. Victims died from burns, smoke inhalation and from being crushed.

September, 2008: A fire killed 44 people at the jammed King of Dancers nightclub in Shenzhen, China, when a stampede broke out after a fireworks show ignited the ceiling.

December, 2004: In Buenos Aires, Argentina, a fire killed 194 people at the crowded Cromagnon Republic club after a flare ignited ceiling foam. Club owner Omar Chaban was sentenced to 20 years in prison for causing the deadly fire and for bribery. Others received lighter sentences.

February, 2003: A fire at the Station nightclub in Warwick, R.I., in the United States, killed 100 people and injured more than 200 others. Fireworks being used by the band Great White set fire to flammable foam inside the club.

December, 2000: A fire that was blamed on a welding accident killed 309 people at a disco in the central Chinese city of Luoyang.

October, 1998: An arson attack against an overcrowded youth disco in the Swedish city of Goteborg killed 63 people and left around 200 injured. Four people were later convicted for starting the fire.

March, 1996: A fire at the Ozone Disco Pub in Quezon City, Philippines, killed 162 people. A large proportion of the victims were students partying to mark the end of the academic year.

March, 1990: An arson attack at the Happy Land nightclub in the Bronx borough of New York City killed 87 people. It started when a man angry with his girlfriend threw gasoline on the club’s only exit and set it on fire, and then jammed down the metal front gate so people were trapped.

December, 1983: A fire at the Alcala dance hall in Madrid, Spain, left 78 people dead and more than 20 injured.

May, 1977: A fire at the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Ky., in America killed 165 people and injured more than 200.

November, 1942: The deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history killed 492 people at Boston’s Cocoanut Grove club. The fire at what had been one of Boston’s foremost nightspots led to new requirements for sprinkler systems and accessible exits.

April, 1940: A fire ignited the decorative Spanish moss draping the ceiling of the Rhythm Night Club in Natchez, Miss., killing 209 people. The windows had been boarded up to prevent people from sneaking in.</s>OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Fire tore through an Oakland warehouse converted into artist studios during a late night dance party, killing at least nine people, and officials said Saturday that the death toll could rise as high as 40.

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 Saturday to cut through the debris of the cluttered building in a gritty neighborhood of this San Francisco Bay Area city, where the fire broke out about 11:30 p.m. Friday.

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 young people in their 20s, Kelly said. 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.

The warehouse was known as the “Oakland Ghost Ship.” Its website showed pictures of a bohemian, loft-like interior made of wood and cluttered with rugs, old sofas and a garage-sale like collection of pianos, paintings, turntables, statues and other items.

The website included advertisements for various electronic music parties. On Friday night, there was an event featuring musician Golden Donna’s 100% Silk West Coast tour.

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. 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 Friday night 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.”

It was not immediately clear what started the fire, but there did not appear to be sprinklers in the building, Deloche-Reed said. She said 50 to 100 people were believed to have been at the party when the fire started and that clutter “made it difficult for people to escape.”

The warehouse was partitioned into artist studios and was packed with furniture, mannequins, statues, lamps, and other objects and did not have a clear entry or exit path, the fire chief said.

“There is still a large portion of the building that still needs to be searched,” she 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.

One survivor said he struggled to find a working fire extinguisher.

“It was too hot, too much smoke, I had to get out of there,” Bob Mule, a photographer and artist who lives at the building and suffered minor burns, told the East Bay Times. “I literally felt my skin peeling and my lungs being suffocated by smoke. I couldn’t get the fire extinguisher to work.”

Oakland police urged those concerned about missing people to call the Alameda County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau at 510-382-3000.

The office said coroners were also at the scene Saturday morning and unavailable for comment.

Associated Press writers Olga R. Rodriguez and Juliet Williams in San Francisco, Jonathan J. Cooper in Oakland and Adam Kealoha Causey in Phoenix contributed to this report.</s>A large structure fire at a warehouse concert in Oakland on Friday night has left at least nine dead, with dozens more reported missing — among them three UC Berkeley students.

The fire took place at 1305 31st Ave. in Oakland during a performance headlined by electronic artist Golden Donna, according to an Oakland Police Department press release. Friends of UC Berkeley students Griffin Madden, Jenny Morris and Vanessa Plotkin have reported them to be missing.

Seung Lee, a UC Berkeley alumnus and former Daily Californian online managing editor, attended the event briefly before leaving with his friends to purchase drinks at a nearby liquor store. When they returned, flames were erupting from the warehouse.

“We just saw this thick black smoke just coming out of the front windows at a very furious pace,” Lee said.

It took about four hours for firefighters to put out the blaze — which caused the roof of the building to collapse — finally extinguishing it about 11:30 p.m. Oakland Fire Department is working with federal partners to determine the cause of the fire, according to a press release.

“Due to structural damage from the fire, the ongoing investigation efforts and search for additional victims will be methodical and are anticipated to take some time,” said Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloach Reed in a press release.

The presence of some foreign attendees at the venue may complicate the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office’s efforts to reach out to families.

Deloach Reed told the East Bay Times that the building did not appear to have sprinklers and that crews did not hear any fire alarms when they entered the building.

The Alameda County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau and chief forensic pathologist are working to process the scene and release the identities of victims.

The majority of bodies were found on the second floor of the building, which was connected to the bottom by a narrow stairwell. The warehouse was an artists’ collective that frequently held art shows.

After the fire broke out, people gathered at a Wendy’s parking lot across the street to watch the scene unfold.

“There were a lot of people holding each other — there were some people kind of crying and wailing and just saying, ‘Oh my god, oh my god,’ ” Lee said. “That’s one of the hardest parts — it’s the fact that you know maybe they knew that they had people inside there.”

There were allegations of code violations on the building this year, including one that reported piles of trash and illegal building on the warehouse. Oakland’s city planning department had opened an investigation into reports of garbage accumulation Nov. 13 and later confirmed the reports, said Darin Ranelletti, Oakland’s director of planning and building, at a press conference.

According to Ranelletti, having a party at the warehouse would have required a permit from the city, but no permit was issued for the event held Friday night. He added that additional reports were made that people had been living in the warehouse.

The Alameda County Coroner’s Bureau and the American Red Cross have organized a Family Assistance Center at 2425 East 12th St. in Oakland, with grief counseling and resources for families affected by the tragedy. Family members and friends looking to locate missing persons may go to the center or call 510-382-3000.

“Last night’s fire was an immense tragedy,” said Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf in a statement. “I am grateful to our first responders for their efforts to deal with this deadly fire. Our focus right now is on the victims and their families and ensuring that we have a full accounting for everyone who was impacted by this tragedy.”</s>A fire on Friday night at a warehouse party in Oakland, California has left at least nine dead, according to the Alameda County sheriff's department, with another 25 people reported as missing or unaccounted for.

The fire broke out in a warehouse converted into an artists' studio and DIY event space called the Oakland Ghost Ship, during a party featuring artists from 100% Silk, a Silver Lake-based dance and electronic label run by wife and husband team Amanda and Britt Brown. The 100% Silk artists scheduled to play at the event were Golden Donna, Cherushii and Nackt, along with other musicians and DJs including Russell E. L. Butler, Obsidian Blade, Piano Rain and RADAR.

Golden Donna, the solo project of Wisconsin-based producer Joel Shanahan, published a Facebook post this morning reading in part, "Joel is safe but like many people he is heartbroken and has several friends among the missing." Chelsea Faith aka Cherushii and Johnny Igaz aka Nackt are among those still listed as missing.

The fire started around 11:30 p.m. near what Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloach-Reed described as a "makeshift stairway," according to East Bay Times. Eyewitnesses described black smoke pouring down the stairs as people tried to escape.

Firefighters have been unable to get full access to the building because the fire rendered it unstable. They expect the death toll to rise and possibly include "dozens of fatalities," Alameda County Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly told reporters.

The event organizers could not be reached for comment, but in a post on the 100% Silk Facebook page, label owner Amanda Brown wrote: "What happened in Oakland is an unbelievable tragedy, a nightmare scenario. Britt and I are beside ourselves, utterly devastated. We are a very tight community of artists and we are all praying, sending love and condolences to everyone involved and their families."

A fire relief fund for victims and their families has been set up on YouCaring.org by the Gray Area Foundation for the Arts and has already raised over $56,000.

This is a developing story. We will have more updates as they become available.</s>OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — California official: City started investigating whether people lived in warehouse illegally weeks before deadly fire.
At least nine people are killed and 40 are missing in a warehouse fire in Oakland, California.