People who had visited the Oakland warehouse (pictured left and right prior to the fire) artist collective gutted by a massive fire early Saturday morning said they knew it was a deathtrap waiting to happen as at least nine people have been confirmed dead and dozens are still missing. Fire Chief Teresa Deloche-Reed said that nine people are dead and at least another 25 people are unaccounted for after the deadly blaze (center) started around 11:30pm Friday in the 1300 block of 31st Avenue during an event featuring musician Golden Donna's 100% Silk West Coast tour. She added that there was no sprinkler system and that firefighters saw no evidence that smoke detectors were activated during the blaze inside the two-story building that is known as an artists enclave called The Oakland Ghost Ship. The building owner had been cited by the city just last month and an investigation into whether the interior of the structure was illegal was underway. Deloach-Reed said that fire crews found a 'makeshift stairwell' between the first and second floor and that most people who died were on the second floor of the building. She said that when fire crews first entered the building to fight the blaze, they were impeded by a massive amount of clutter that included furniture, art and several mannequins. 'It filled end to end with furniture, whatnot, collections,' Deloach-Reed said. 'It was like a maze almost.'
Illegal artist enclave that was a death trap waiting to happen: Oakland warehouse where up to 40 died in fire had NO living or party permits and city attempts to inspect it repeatedly failed
