OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Federal officials investigating a fire that killed 36 people during a party at an Oakland warehouse plan to bring in engineers to examine the building’s electrical system, as they try to pinpoint the cause of a blaze that has cast a spotlight on similar artists’ colonies around the country that offer cheap housing but unsafe living conditions.
Federal investigators said Wednesday the fire started on the ground floor of the Oakland warehouse and quickly raged, with smoke billowing into the second level and trapping victims whose only escape route was through the flames.
“The occupants were consumed by smoke before they could get out of the building,” said Jill Snyder, special agent in charge of the San Francisco office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
She also confirmed there were no sprinklers or fire alarm system in the building.
Officials previously said recovery efforts at the site had ended with the death toll remaining at 36.