Refrigerator Ruled Out As Cause Of Oakland Ghost Ship Warehouse Fire
OAKLAND (CBS SF) – Federal investigators have ruled out a refrigerator as the source of the deadly Ghost Ship warehouse fire, but electricians Friday continued to examine the wiring and other appliances in the structure as they searched for a cause of the blaze that killed 36 people.
Continuing Coverage: Deadly Oakland Warehouse Fire
Jill Snyder, Special Agent in Charge of ATF San Francisco, said there was the possibility a cause would never be determine for the smoky blaze which began in the rare of the warehouse and spread quickly, trapping the partygoers on the second floor where they were listening to musical performances.
"It (the refrigerator) was in the area of the fire's origin, but not the cause," she said.
Raw Video: ATF Press Conference on Oakland Ghost Ship Fire Update
An ATF forensic team was also using high-tech cameras to scan the inside of the burned-out structure in an effort to create a detail map for fire investigators.
Snyder said there was no evidence the fire had been intentionally set.
The first floor of the two-story warehouse was filled with a maze of makeshift work spaces for artists, making fighting the fire and escaping the blaze nearly impossible.
Residents have said the wiring providing electrical power to the facility was a spider web of wires and cables. Photos of the interior also show propane tanks used to power at least one heating unit.
Snyder said the ATF team was looking at "everything that is electrical."
The fire a week ago resulted in the largest loss of life at a music venue in the United States since the Station nightclub fire in Rhode Island in 2003 killed 100 people.
On Friday, the Alameda County Coroner's Office released the final five names of the victims that has yet to be identified.
They included 37-year-old Michele Sylvan, who died while attending the party along with her boyfriend Wolfgang Renner, who also perished in the blaze.
Barrett Clark, 35, was a popular sound engineer at the San Francisco's The Bottom of the Hill.
Lynn Schwarz, co-owner of The Bottom of the Hill, said Clark was the engineer she hired to impress popular bands.
"You couldn't shock the guy," Schwarz said. "He had all kinds of friends."
Nick Walrath, 31, was recently hired as an attorney with the San Francisco law firm Durie Tangri.
He texted his girlfriend, Alexis Abrams-Bourke, from inside the burning structure, saying there was a fire and that he loved her.
She spoke between sobs as she described him as a wonderful person who was open and vulnerable and goofy and generous.
"I feel like my future has been ripped from me," she said.
Fire victim Peter Wadsworth, 38, was like family to his friend Tammy Tasoff.
Wadsworth looked out for her, doing little things that made her life easier. He would organize her messy files, give her advice and fix her computer if she needed help, said Tasoff, a dental student.
Jonathan Bernbaum, 34, was a well-known visual projection artist whose dramatic light and video shows enhanced the performances of musicians in California and around the world.
He worked editing films before becoming disillusioned with the corporate film industry and discovered a way to apply his film skills to multi-media video art, according to an obituary posted online.
"If you've seen a Knife Party show in the last ¾ years, there's a 99 percent chance you were watching Jon's visuals and know how talented he was," Knife Party musician Rob Swire wrote on Twitter, saying he would miss his good friend.
Joey Matlock, 36, also known as Casio, was described by a fellow DJ as a "philosopher of electronic music."
While 36 families were in mourning, the Oakland Fire Department was trying to help its first responders cope with the emotional toll of the victim recovery process.
The department deployed a team of nearly 30 counselors Friday for visits to the local firehouses to help with their firefighters with the mental recovery from the disaster.
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