The fire began about 11.30pm on Friday night and was not extinguished until 4am, despite firefighters reached the warehouse within three minutes of being called. District attorney Nancy O’Malley initially said the ruins of Ghost Ship – a warehouse turned performance space – were “a potential crime scene” but that “it’s too premature to know where the investigation will lead us”.
However, investigations have since revealed that a faulty refrigerator may be the cause.
Added to the fire risks inherent in nightclubs, theatres and other buildings of ‘assembly occupancy’ – crowded, often dark spaces with combustible interior décor and heat sources like candles, stage lights or pyrotechnics – the warren of artist studios across two floors in the Oakland venue were connected by a rickety staircase comprised of wooden pallets, with only two exits.
City records, which the investigators are trawling through, show a history of fire-code violations at the building.
A century ago fires that killed hundreds in theatres and nightclubs were not uncommon in the US.
The loss of 146 lives in New York’s Triangle fire of 1911 was one of several watershed moments that prompted changes to the fire code, the first standards for sprinkler installation and the construction of fire escape routes in the early 1900s.
Speaking to the New York Times, James Pauley, president of the National Fire Protection Association said: “The adoption and implementation of fire codes, having an effective enforcement system that’s been put in place at the city, county or state level — those have been the key elements that have made the difference we have seen. When a deadly fire happens it is usually because something isn’t followed or something goes wrong or we learn something new.”
Victims of the Oakland fire so far appear to be in their 20s and 30s and include a teacher, musicians, the son of a deputy sheriff and university students.
Deputy fire chief Darren White said the search, which was paused on Monday amid fears the ruins were structurally unsound, had now covered about 70% of the warehouse and they were homing in on the origin of the blaze.
Police have opened a murder investigation into the deaths of two homeless people during a blaze in Manchester’s Chinatown.
Wayne Bardsley, 51, and James Evans, 57, were sheltering in a disused building in Nicholas Street where a fire began early on 25 November.
Police have released CCTV images featuring a man they want to speak to and urged anyone who recognises the man in question to contact them “immediately”.
Detective Chief Inspector Amber Waywell said that following an investigation by the Greater Manchester Police the incident was now being treated as “suspicious”.
She added: “We also believe that members of the homeless community may have been in or near the building before the fire started. They could hold information that will be critical to our investigation.”
Households with fire-prone tumble driers are still waiting for repairs a year after Whirlpool issued a safety alert.
Mystery shoppers from Which were told that registering for a repair or replacement could take six to 12 weeks. Whirlpool told them it has now repaired two-thirds of the machines affected.
Tests by the firm revealed that two types of driers – condensed and vented dryers made by Indesit between April 2004 and September 2015 – had allowed dangerous levels of lint to build up against the heating element in tests.
Whirpool had initially angered consumers by suggesting that they could continue to use the machines so long as they cleaned the lint filter after every cycle and didn’t leave their dryers unattended during operation.
A huge tower block fire in west London, which was brought under control by 120 firefighters earlier this year, was caused by one of the machines awaiting repair.
Some five million affected machines were sold in the UK, under the Creda, Indesit and Hotpoint brands, between April 2004 and September 2015.
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