OAKLAND: Fire Officials Raise Warehouse Blaze Death Toll To 33, Ask Families For DNA Identification Help

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

The death toll from a fire that tore through a converted Oakland warehouse during an electronic music show soared to 33 people on Sunday, and as emergency crews picked through the rubble they said they were sure the number would rise.

Battalion Chief Melinda Drayton of the Oakland Fire Department said workers using excavators and other heavy equipment overnight had combed through about 20 percent of the building at 31st Avenue and International Boulevard, and were finding bodies spread throughout the debris. She described an arduous — and emotionally difficult — process.

“Literally bucket by bucket, in a thoughtful, mindful and compassionate way,” she said. “It was quiet. It was heartbreaking.” Alameda County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Kelly said people who think they might have a lost a loved one to the fire should start preserving DNA samples to help with identification because of the extent of damage to the remains. “It’s a terrible thing to say that, but that’s what we have to do here,” he said.

It’s believed that some of the victims may have been transgender.