The Latest: Officials release names of 10 more fire victims
By The Associated Press, Associated Press
Dec 6, 2016 12:49 AM CST

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on a deadly fire in an Oakland warehouse (all times local):

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10:30 p.m.

More victims from the deadly fire have been identified.

The Alameda County Coroner's Bureau released the names of 10 more fire victims who have been positively identified.

A press release from the City of Oakland late Monday says all 10 were from the San Francisco and Oakland area and all were in their 20s and 30s.

The announcement was the latest about victims of the blaze that killed at least 36 people.

The fire erupted during a dance party late Friday night. It's unclear how it started.

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9:00 p.m.

Investigators with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are helping with the probe of a warehouse blaze in Oakland that killed 36 people.

Investigators say they believe they have located the section of the building where the fire started, but the cause remains unknown.

Micah Allison, who along with her husband, Derick Ion Almena, managed the artist collective housed inside a warehouse known as Ghost Ship, says ATF investigators interviewed her husband "extensively."

The blaze erupted during a dance party late Friday night.

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8:30 p.m.

An official says several of the people who died in an Oakland warehouse fire texted goodbye messages to their families.

Alameda County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly told reporters Monday some of the victims texted relatives, "I'm going to die," and "I love you."

Kelly says rescue crews have found bodies of people "protecting each other, holding each other."

Hundreds of people holding candles honored those who died in the fire at a vigil Monday night in Oakland's Lake Merritt.

Those in the crowd embracing each other or holding up candles or flowers and saying aloud the names of people they lost in the blaze.

Several people in the crowd have signs offering "free hugs."

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6:30 p.m.

The founder of an Oakland artists' colony where a fire killed at least 36 people during a party says he didn't know the event was taking place and that police had visited the place several times.

Derick Ion Almena told San Jose television station KNTV in an interview Monday that he wasn't at the warehouse Friday night because he and his wife had decided to stay at a hotel because he was exhausted and their children had school.

He says about 20 people lived there as part of a collective of young artists and that he was like the group's grandfather.

He says police have been in and out of the building in the last few years to respond to break-ins and other concerns of people who lived there and that they never pointed out any safety concerns.

He says they would say: " 'Wow, what an amazing space.' "

Oakland Police Department spokeswoman Johnna Watson didn't immediately return calls for comment on Monday.

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4:50 p.m.

Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern says sheriff's officials don't believe additional bodies will be found in the Oakland warehouse fire.

Ahern told The Associated Press Monday he couldn't be absolutely positive until the entire recovery effort was complete. The death toll is at 36.

Fire officials have said crews have gone through roughly three-quarters of the building.

The blaze erupted during a dance party late Friday night.

Investigators with the district attorney's office are making sure crews removing debris don't jeopardize any evidence in a potential criminal investigation.

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3:05 p.m.

Prosecutors say they are investigating the warehouse fire that killed 36 people, and murder charges are possible.

Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley said Monday her office has just started its probe and has not yet determined whether a crime even occurred. But she said charges could range from murder to involuntary manslaughter.

Investigators with the district attorney's office are making sure crews removing debris don't jeopardize any evidence in a potential criminal investigation.

The fire erupted during a dance party late Friday night. It's unclear how it started.

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1:05 p.m.

California Gov. Jerry Brown is expressing condolences to the families of the victims of the Oakland warehouse fire, one of the worst in the state's history.

But Brown says Monday it is too soon to draw conclusions about factors that played into the fire, including a lack of affordable housing.

Brown would say only that code provisions and permitting are important functions of local government.

He didn't directly answer when asked whether the state was playing a role in investigating the fire.

The blaze erupted during a dance party late Friday night. The death toll has grown to 36 with more victims expected to be found in the rubble in the coming days.

Eleven of those killed have been identified, but not all the names have been publicly released.

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12:15 p.m.

The search for more people killed in an Oakland warehouse fire has resumed.

Work had stopped just after midnight Monday because a wall was leaning inward, posing a safety hazard for those who have been searching the structure. Authorities say about 70 percent of the building has been searched.

The fire erupted during a dance party late Friday night. The death toll has grown to 36 with more victims expected to be found in the rubble in the coming days.

Eleven victims have been identified, but all the names been publicly released.

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11:25 a.m.

A man who ran the building where at least 36 people died in a fire tells a San Francisco TV station that those who perished were his "loves."

KGO-TV reports (http://abc7ne.ws/2haQY4d ) it tracked down Derick Ion Almena and Micah Allison, the mother of his children who helped him run the building, late Sunday at a Marriott hotel in Oakland.

Almena spoke briefly to the TV station, saying those who died were his friends and family.

A man identified as Derick Ion posted a Facebook message after the fire saying everything that he'd worked for was gone. The message was widely criticized as insensitive in light of the deaths.

The fire erupted during a dance party late Friday night. Crews are still searching through rubble for bodies.

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9:30 a.m.

President Barack Obama is expressing his sympathies to the people of Oakland as families of victims and residents deal with one of the worst fires in the state's history.

The death toll in Friday night's fire at a warehouse has grown to 36.

Obama says the full toll of the disaster is unknown, but "many people - including young men and women with their whole futures ahead of them - have tragically lost their lives."

Obama says he wanted to thank firefighters and other first responders who have worked to recover victims and treat the wounded.

He says the administration is in close contact with state and local officials to ensure authorities have everything they need as they continue response operations and investigate the cause of the fire.

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6:28 a.m.

The death toll in the Oakland warehouse fire has grown to 36.

Authorities announced the latest tally early Monday, saying they expect the number to rise.

Eleven victims have been positively identified, but all the names have yet to be publicly released.

Work has stopped at the scene for now because one wall is leaning inward, posing a safety hazard for those who have been searching the structure. Officials hope to have an engineering solution later today.

Authorities also believe they've located the section of the building where the fire started, but the cause remains unknown.

The fire erupted during a dance party late Friday night.