People want answers': Criminal probe of Oakland fire launched as death toll hits 36
Phil Willon, Paige St. John and Soumya KarlamanglaContact Reporters
The grim search for bodies in the ruins of the Oakland warehouse fire entered its third day Monday as criminal investigators began to examine who is to blame for one of the worst fires in modern California history.
Thirty-six bodies have been recovered, but officials halted recovery operations overnight due to the unstable condition of the warehouse. As of Monday morning, about 70% of the building had been searched, officials said.
“We absolutely believe the number of fire fatalities will increase,” Oakland Fire Battalion Chief Melinda Drayton said Monday.
Alameda County authorities released the names of seven people who died: Cash Askew, 22; David Cline, 23; Travis Hough, 35; and Donna Kellogg, 32, of Oakland; Sara Hoda, 30, of Walnut Creek; Brandon Chase Wittenauer, 32, of Hayward; and Nick Gomez-Hall, 25, of Coronado. The name of one minor was withheld.
Sgt. Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department, said the majority of the victims were in their 20s and 30s, but that some were teenagers.
Kelly said the district attorney’s office has sent a team of criminal investigators to work alongside the sheriff’s arson task force and the Oakland Police Department. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has also sent representatives to help in the investigation, providing resources, forensics and laboratory work.
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