UPDATE: Death toll from Oakland warehouse fire at 24, expected to rise

Whoa.

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

Lots of unchecked electricity in those setups.

 

"one-way stairs made from pallets." Holy shit.

 

Damn.

 

Sounds like the same kind of structures that collapsed in Chicago a few years back.

 

Apparently it was unpermitted construction in a building designated as a warehouse.

 

Party organized by label in LA and announced on Facebook just hour before it was to start.

Oakland concert struck by deadly fire was promoted by L.A. dance label 100% Silk

 

Building owner posted his lament on Facebook, only for commenters to mention that they have been warning him about the dangers for years.

Oakland building where fire victims died was source of complaints

 

A's, Raiders dive headfirst into fundraising efforts. Yeah, sounds like both want to leave.

 

"complaints for years" A total failure of local government. The owner should be jailed. The head of city building/fire code enforcement should be fired.

 

And Warriors to kick in another $50K.

 

There is one detail in the link I posted earlier that may or may not mean something -- the owner lives there with his wife and kids, but the wife and kids were staying at a hotel last night. It makes enough sense that he would have sent them there because of the party. But that ... and the fact that the guy was one of the first people out ... and the fact that he was being looked at for code violations that no doubt would have been very expensive to fix ... I'm sure detectives are taking a look at that.

 

One of the Bay Area TV stations is reporting two "life-sized missiles" were found inside the building. Reporter said they very well could be part of an art installation -- there were quite a few odd and interesting pieces described on the web site -- but still, it's odd seeing fire fighters huddled around missiles. Most reports say the fire started small, possibly electrical.