A prayer vigil was held at Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland on Saturday night in the memory of Oakland warehouse fire victims.
The fire at the converted warehouse which was packed with 50-100 youngsters dancing to electronic music claimed 33 lives.
"They were amazing and I'm sorry for everyone's loss," said Genevieve Griesau, whose four friends were still missing after the fire. "It's mind blowing, heart breaking."
Fire had broken out in the left corner of the building on the second floor, which gutted the two stories of Ghost Ship located at 1305 31st Ave. at International Boulevard, in Fruitvale neighborhood
Members of the community put flowers at a nearby fence to pay respects to the victims, and gathered at the chapel which is a crematory and columbarium in Oakland, located at 4499 Piedmont Avenue.
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The fire department spent hours trying to put out the fire, which made the roof of the building to collapse.
The search and rescue operation at the building was wrought with complications as they had to take care of the collapsing second-story roof which fell on the first floor.
"We had firefighters with basically coveralls and buckets and shovels taking bits of debris out into the vacant lot to be loaded into dump trucks and removed to an off-site location," said Oakland battalion Fire Chief Melinda Drayton.
The fire started at around 11:15 pm at night, and the fire department arrived 3 minutes later.
"This is a devastating loss to our community and our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected," said Marcie Russell, general manager of the Chapel of the