TRAGIC

9 Dead in Oakland Fire

Officials say they're prepared for up to 40 deaths in devastating blaze.

At least nine people were killed and more than a dozen reported missing after a fire erupted at a warehouse party in Oakland on Friday, authorities said. Firefighters arrived to fight the blaze in the Fruitvale district at about 11:30 p.m. They were still working as of Saturday afternoon, as officials said they were prepared to find up to 40 bodies. “We’ve done a preliminary search and are up to nine known fatalities,” Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloach-Reed told local media. “There’s still a still a lot of the building that needs to be searched.” Another 25 people are thought to be unaccounted for, she said. Firefighters said there were about 50 people inside the building at the time of the fire. The building reportedly housed an artist collective and several studios, police said. Family and friends of people at the party took to social media on Saturday morning in a bid to find the whereabouts of their loved ones. The fire is thought to be one of the deadliest single-structure blazes to hit Oakland in recent history. Arson investigators will be called in to check the scene.