Warehouse fire victim count holds at 36

Crews sifting through the remains of the Ghost Ship warehouse following Friday’s devastating fire in Oakland’s Fruitvale district have now searched 85 percent of the building, officials said at a news conference Tuesday morning.

The victim count of the three-alarm fire that tore through a party at the building at 1305 31st Ave. has held at 36, Alameda County sheriff’s Deputy Tya Modeste said.

The Alameda County coroner’s bureau has notified 26 victims’ families, Modeste said. Nine victims have been tentatively identified, and one victim is still unidentified.

The coroner’s bureau has released the names of 17 victims. An 18th victim, a 17-year-old San Francisco high school student, was identified by his school.

The Alameda County coroner’s bureau Monday night released the names of 10 additional victims of Friday’s warehouse fire at a party in Oakland’s Fruitvale district.

The victims include Em Bohlka, 33, Micah Danemayer, 28, Alex Ghassan, 35, Edmund Lapine, 34, Benjamin Runnels, 32 and Jennifer Kiyomi Tanouye, 31, all of Oakland, 33-year-old Chelsea Dolan of San Francisco, 29-year-old Feral Pines of Berkeley, 20-year-old Michela Gregory of South San Francisco and 21-year-old Jennifer Morris of Foster City.

Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley has launched a criminal investigation of the incident.

Oakland police Officer Marco Marquez said today that community members wishing to donate to the victims’ families should do so at https://www.youcaring.com/firevictimsofoaklandfiredec232016-706684. More than $376,000 had been raised as of Tuesday morning.

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