Eleven of the 36 victims who died in the Oakland warehouse fire late Friday night were identified as of Monday morning. Kris Sanchez reports.
Eleven of the 36 victims who died in the Oakland warehouse fire late Friday night have been identified as of Monday morning.
But only seven of the victim's names were released so that families could have a moment to grieve, Alameda County Sheriff's officials and Oakland police said. Among those who died is the son of a sheriff's deputy.
The city also knows the identity of an eighth victim, but would not release the person's name because the 17-year-old is a minor. However, on Monday, officials from the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in San Francisco identified the teen as Draven McGill, an 11th-grade student at the school.
Student body president Gabriel Bibliowicz said that Draven was a "really sweet" guy who mostly "kept to himself." He was a "gifted baritone and a quiet leader with a strong voice."[[404855626, C]]
The seven victims who have been officially identified are Donna Kellogg, 32, of Oakland; Cash Askew, 22, of Oakland; David Cline, 35, of Oakland; Nick Gomez-Hall, 25, of Coronado; Sara Hoda, 30, of Walnut Creek; Travis Hough, 35, of Oakland; and Brandon Chase Wittenauer, 32, of Hayward.
The death toll in the warehouse fire is expected to rise, but it will be days before recovery crews can access the entire structure, officials said. As of Monday, they had made it through 70 percent of the building.
U.S. & World
Kellogg, one of the first people to be confirmed dead, was going to culinary school and worked at High Wire Roasters coffee shop in Berkeley. Her coworkers learned Sunday night that she was killed in the fire.
Kellogg was a former resident of Chico who graduated from Chico High. One friend described her as a freewheeling, free-spirited, candid person.
Wittenauer, better known by his stage name Nex Iuguolo, was an electronic music artist and vocalist for the band Symbiotix Fungi.
Hough was a musician with the Oakland-based electronic band Ghost of Lightning. Hough often went by the stage name Travis Blitzen.
Askew, another musician, was a member of the Bay Area dream pop band Them Are Us Too.[[404676316, C]]
Gomez-Hall was an administrative assistant at Counterpoint Press who called himself a decomposer of music.
Cline was a UC Berkeley graduate, having earned degrees in cognitive science and computer science.
Hoda's friends on Facebook said she was a teacher, gardener and a hardworking person who loved children.
Hoda taught a first through third-grade class at the Urban Montessori in East Oakland. On Monday, Hoda's family attended a small meomrial on campus where students shared stories about their teacher and presented them with cards and art work.
The victims' families have been notified. Other names are expected to be released in the coming days. Some of the victims are non-citizens, officials said.
The Alameda County Coroner's Bureau has asked that the families of people who are still missing "preserve sources of DNA," including combs and toothbrushes, to "prevent future delays" in the identification process. She also asked that such items be stored in clean paper sacks, but not sent to the coroner's bureau. Officials will ask for them, if needed.
