“Can I just say I’m sorry,” a distraught Derick Almena told the “Today” show in front of the fire-gutted building early Tuesday. “The only reason I’m here is to put my face and body in front.”
Asked if he should be held accountable for the fire that erupted at an electronic music event late Friday night, Almena responded, “What am I gonna say to that? Am I gonna be held accountable? I can barely stand here right now.”
With 85 percent of the building searched, authorities say they don’t expect to find additional victims, but said it was still possible that the official death toll could rise higher than 36.
“We haven’t found any … recently,” said Jim Call, division chief for the Alameda County Fire Department. “We don’t expect to. Certainly, we hope that we don’t find any more. … More than anything we would like to clear the building and say that it is clear.”
Coroner’s investigators have notified 26 families, while nine other victims have been tentatively identified, according to Alameda County Sheriff Deputy Tya Modeste. The remains of one victim have yet to be identified.
Also, several people who are thought to have visited the warehouse remain missing, authorities said.
“We are working to reconcile the list of missing versus the identified and tentative IDs,” Modeste said.
Alameda County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Kelly told KTVU-TV some of victims texted their family members, saying they loved them and that they were going to die. Kelly said rescue crews found some of the victims “protecting each other, holding each other,” The Associated Press reported.
Authorities did not provide an estimate on how long the search will take to complete.
“We are not going to put an end time,” Oakland Police Officer Johnna Watson said. “We are going to continue the search. We are going to continue the investigation. We are going to continue the process until absolutely every piece of debris is removed from this building, every area has been searched, so families and our community know there is nothing left at this location.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was still examining an area within the building, officials said.
“They definitely focused in on a section that’s of interest, but it will remain under investigation for a while until they can be certain,” Call said.
If the fire is determined to be an arson, prosecutors could bring murder or aggravated arson charges — with one count for each person killed.
A second area in the warehouse must be stabilized before firefighters can dig through the debris.
As the search for bodies progressed, pressure was mounting on city officials to explain how they dealt with numerous complaints concerning conditions in the warehouse as well as questions about whether safety problems were ignored.
Neighbors said they had complained about piles of trash and illegal construction at the warehouse. They said a steady stream of young artists came and went, giving every indication that the building was their home, yet the property’s owner had only a permit for a warehouse, not a residence. Officials had opened an investigation into possible code violations, and an inspector had visited the warehouse but never went inside.
“The administration has to tell us, well, what happened to the code inspector. Why did he just knock on the door and not pursue?” said City Councilman Noel Gallo, whose district includes the Fruitvale neighborhood where the warehouse was located. “This thing has been going on for 2 1/2 years.”
The city of Oakland has yet to release a full accounting of all city building or fire code inspections and investigations of the warehouse, but city records available online show at least five complaints had been investigated since June 2014.
The warehouse was a 10,000-square-foot tinderbox with stacks of discarded furniture piled high, a rickety staircase made partly of wooden pallets, and a half-dozen RVs. Officials said they have found no evidence of sprinklers or fire alarms inside the structure, known as the Ghost Ship. And, according to the man who oversaw the building, it was also outfitted with his homemade electrical repairs, for which he did not obtain permits.
Almena told NBC News on Monday that he made those repairs because the landlord refused.
Chor N. Ng, the warehouse owner, could not be reached for comment. Her daughter, Eva Ng, has previously said the family was unaware people were living there.
Zac Unger, vice president of the local firefighters union, said the fire marshal’s inspection unit has been understaffed for years.
“We’re way short, especially in an aging city with a huge amount of building going on,” he said.
Unger said a more aggressive fire marshal’s office would scour the city looking for buildings that had avoided scrutiny in the past, or had other city code violations and might be hazardous. Such tactics could have possibly prevented the tragedy at the warehouse, he said.
“Had a fire inspector walked into that building and seen the conditions in there, they would have shut the place down,” he said.
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Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley said her office is investigating the fire, which torched the building during an unpermitted concert. The probe could result in criminal charges, including murder or manslaughter, she said.
“We owe it to the community and those who perished to be methodical, to be thorough and take the time to look at every potential piece of evidence,” O’Malley said. “We’ll leave no stone unturned. Already people from the community have been reaching out to us about the individuals involved and the scene itself.”
Responding to questions about the city’s handling of the warehouse complaints, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said in a statement the city will provide more information about the matter.
“We recognize people deserve answers. While we have all hands on deck to appropriately focus on safe recovery of victims, care of their families and preservation of evidence for investigations, we have had initial information compiled and will be reviewing it with the District Attorney prior to release,” Schaaf said.
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