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AT LEAST NINE people died and authorities said they feared the toll could rise as high as 40 in a fire that broke out during a rave at a converted warehouse in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Oakland fire chief Teresa Deloche-Reed said at least another 25 people were unaccounted for as of this morning and authorities were working to verify who was in the cluttered warehouse when the fire broke out around 11.30pm last night.
Alameda County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt Ray Kelly said authorities were prepared to deal with 30 to 40 deaths.
Between 50 and 100 people were believed to have been at the party when the fire started, Deloche-Reed said. It was not immediately clear what started the fire, but there did not appear to be sprinklers in the building, she said.
The interior of the warehouse “made it difficult for people to escape,” Deloche-Reed said.
The warehouse was partitioned into artist studios and was packed with furniture, mannequins, statues, lamps, and other objects and did not have a clear entry or exit path, the fire chief said. The only way out of the second floor was a makeshift stairwell made of pallets.
“There is still a large portion of the building that still needs to be searched,” she said. “There is large timber and debris that will need to be removed and it’s going to have to be removed in a slow and methodical way.”
The fire caused the building’s roof to collapse and investigators were having trouble entering parts of the warehouse to search for any remaining bodies because the structure was deemed unsafe, Deloche-Reed said.
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The building in a gritty part of Oakland was still smoldering today as firefighters used tools to chop a path through debris.
The fire tore through the building during an event featuring musician Golden Donna’s 100% Silk West Coast tour.
Survivors said they struggled to find working fire extinguishers.
“It was too hot, too much smoke, I had to get out of there,” Bob Mule, a photographer and artist who lives at the building and suffered minor burns, told the East Bay Times. “I literally felt my skin peeling and my lungs being suffocated by smoke. I couldn’t get the fire extinguisher to work.”
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Good that disaster was averted but are they certain it wasn’t some old charleville cheese? Had to carry out a similar exercise one time when the wife left some really odourous stuff in the fridge.
Why does this seem to becoming such a frequent thing now in schools. The ABD unit seems to be spending a lot of time dealing with unstable chemicals in schools.
The chemical, Dinitrophenylhydrazine, is a chemical reagent routinely used in labs
If this happened in Iran, the US would use it as more evidence of a chemical weapons program!!!!! Just as well those ‘chemistry sets, of da 80′s are no
Longer on da market
Who is responsible?
Hmmmm…. We’l say Anglo for this one?
Cool suit.
You’ve got to be kidding.
Anyone got any info on this stuff still being issued to chemistry labs in schools or was this something done many years ago and now seized. It would somewhat explain why the BDU are called out after routine audits if this stuff is found on the premise which could be decade or more old, leaving a chance its less stable. Its a know carcinogenic and from its data sheet,
Section 11: Toxicological Information
Routes of Entry: Dermal contact. Eye contact. Inhalation. Ingestion.
Toxicity to Animals: Acute oral toxicity (LD50): 654 mg/kg [Rat].
Chronic Effects on Humans: The substance is toxic to lungs, the nervous system, mucous membranes.
Other Toxic Effects on Humans:
Very hazardous in case of ingestion, of inhalation. Hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant, permeator)
Hm, you’re right. Our schools should be safe, we should remove all hazardous “learning” tools at once! Lets remove this next:
Section 56B: Crapology catalog:
Name: Car
Description: Dangerous metal object responsible for over 1.2 million deaths last year alone.
Toxicity: Toxic to both humans and animals may also leak flammable and toxic substances.
Chronic Effects on Humans: The entity is toxic, may cause weight gain on use, known to cause back pain and blood clots.
Won’t somebody PLEASE think of the children!
Wow, No need to be a dick Aidan!
I simply asked if it’s still used in school as I personally don’t recall it being used when I did chemistry but it’s been a while. Its the 4th time in a year its been found during a routine audit and needed to be removed by Bomb Disposal, so I’m still asking, is it deemed a danger due to its age or for what reason required the BDU to be called? What conditions trigger this response from the auditor?
Any answer or do you prefer to be a narky smartass?
Seems like a picture of that robot bomb yoke pops up on here every day in some capacity
If I had known that stuff was in the lab when I was there, I would have had great craic! LOL
I hope this unstable chemical was not Beamish (a drink I love).
have your say