OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA — At least 33 people are dead and many more unaccounted for, after a fire raged through a party in Oakland, California on Friday.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that dozens of people were at a music party on the second floor of the Ghostship warehouse when the fire broke out.
Flames spread quickly throughout the structure — an artist space and residence cluttered with art and wooden furniture. The building wasn’t up to code and had no sprinklers or smoke detectors installed inside, reports the East Bay Times.
Survivors describe going down a rickety staircase made of wooden pallets, with smoke obscuring their sight halfway down. The first floor was a labyrinth, subdivided into rooms and similarly packed wall-to-wall with wooden artwork.
Some crawled blindly on the floor, trying to find a way out while choking on the thick smoke. The few who made it out reportedly did so with the help of a man yelling by the exit.
Many others remained trapped inside and likely perished in the blaze, which continued to burn for about five hours.
Authorities are still combing through the wreckage and are still looking into the cause of the fire.
