Reports: 2 NJ men missing in CA warehouse fire

Two New Jersey natives are reportedly among the people still missing following the massive warehouse fire in California. Alex Ghassan recently moved from Jersey City to Oakland, and was at the electronic

News 12 Staff

Dec 5, 2016, 4:18 PM

Updated 2,698 days ago

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Reports: 2 NJ men missing in CA warehouse fire
Two New Jersey natives are reportedly among the people still missing following the massive warehouse fire in California.
Alex Ghassan recently moved from Jersey City to Oakland, and was at the electronic music party at the warehouse where the fire erupted Friday night, according to reports. It is believed that Ghassan was with his fiancee, who is also among the missing. Griffin Madden, who is reportedly from Morristown, is also numbered among the missing.
Crews are working to try to recover bodies still trapped in the debris. Officials say that so far, the death toll is up to 36.
Seven victims have been identified, but officials say that identification has become so difficult that authorities may need DNA samples to identify the remaining victims.
So far, one-third of the building has been searched in a tedious and dangerous process.
The second floor of the building collapsed, trapping those inside while there was a party going on.
Police say there were no smoke alarms or sprinklers.
The city of Oakland says the building was approved only as a warehouse, not for use as a residence. Last month, the owner of the building was notified of violations for trash and debris.
Firefighters are being very cautious as they need to preserve what is now a crime scene. They need to be able to get inside and find the point of origin, which will allow them to determine a cause of the fire.


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