One statement in Jeralyn's article carries the lesson of this horror and bears revisiting.  

"Electricity frequently went on and off in the building."

Yesterday, department spokesperson Sgt. Ray Kelly confirmed to local media that the son of one of their own deputies was among the very first victims to be identified, but his name was being withheld since he was a minor under 18 years of age. You could see from the look of anguish and regret on Sgt. Kelly's face that this particular news really hit home with him, and likely with nearly everyone in the department as well.

Today, several students at San Francisco's prestigious Ruth Asawa School of the Arts confirmed to San Francisco Chronicle reporter Jill Tucker that the young man in question was their classmate Draven McGill, 17-year-old son of Deputy Phil McGill. Once Draven's parents gave them permission to do so, school officials issued a media release verifying the news and asked that everyone respect the family's privacy at this time. The Sheriff's Dept. made a similar request of the media only a few minutes ago at the 2:30 p.m. PST briefing.

Draven was by most all accounts a respectful, well-liked and gifted young man. He had been attending the rave at the Ghost Ship warehouse with several friends and classmates, who escaped the disaster. As of this writing, he is the fire's youngest victim, and one of only eight thus far positively identified.

Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern has confirmed that 3 of the 36 confirmed victims are foreign nationals, and that the respective embassies of those victims have been contacted.

Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley confirmed that the scene has been formally designated a potential crime scene, which would limit the amount of information public officials could release at this time.

She says that it's way too early in the investigation to speculate about potential criminal charges, and that her office is initially seeking to determine whether or not there is actual criminal liability. If so, only then will her office determine what specific laws were broken, and who exactly was liable.

Oakland Mayor Libby Shaaf thanked public officials and employees of neighboring communities for their assistance, particularly the firefighters from Hayward and Fremont who responded to the 5-alarm call. She also recognized Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who flew in from Washington to personally assist her office in dealing with the tragedy, and noted that Ms. Lee has been meeting with and comforting the families of victims.

Mayor Shaaf said her office's immediate priorities are: (1) the recovery and identification of victims; (2) that city residents are kept up to date regarding developments; and (3) the a complete and unbiased assessment be conducted to determine the true extent of city officials' prior contacts and dealings with the warehouse owner and building management, to see how this building was somehow allowed to stay open in the face of numerous complaints from the warehouse's neighbors in the Fremont District.

Sheriff Ahern, in response to a reporter's question, said that at least 75% of the warehouse ruins has been examined thus far, and even though about 50 people are still on a list of potentially missing persons, he really doesn't expect the death toll to further rise dramatically above the present 36.

He further emphasized that his department has been fielding calls from all sorts of people who haven't heard from loved ones, and expressed fears that they might have been at the warehouse rave last Friday night. He noted that his deputies have been doing their best to follow up on various leads in an attempt to figure out where these family members are, in order to reduce that list of potential missing persons and thus allay those fears and concerns to the extent possible.

Also responding to a reporter's inquiry, Mayor Shaaf reiterated that the city's immediate priority is focused on recovery of victims and providing comfort and closure to their families. "there will be plenty of time in the coming months to assess the plethora of policy and enforcement shortcomings that this tragedy has apparently exposed, and I promise you that we will examine these matters honestly and forthrightly, regardless of where the trail of evidence might lead us."

Mayor Shaaf also pledged to bring in outside resources to conduct that municipal inquiry. "It appears to me to be highly inappropriate for city personnel, myself included, to be investigating our own conduct in this matter. I can confirm that the warehouse was neither zoned nor permitted as a residential property, that nobody was authorized by city officials to hold events such as the one on Friday night, and that at least some city officials and inspectors were aware of the ongoing situation at the time of this tragedy. As far as conduct of the criminal investigation is concerned, that is strictly the district attorney's jurisdiction and not mine, and as mayor I have pledged our city's full cooperation with her office's efforts in that regard."

Again in response to a reporter's question, District Attorney O'Malley further refused to concede that the tragedy was the result of gross negligence, and while pleading to keep the media up to date with regards to her office's investigation, she asked that journalists and the general public please be patient and allow them the time and space necessary to do their jobs properly. "I will not allow my office to become part of any public rush to judgment," she concluded.

All in all, this has been a very professional presentation under some very trying and emotional circumstances.

for Jayson Landeza.'

'When the second alarm buzzed his cell phone at 11:36 p.m. Friday, the Reverend Jayson Landeza got out of his bedclothes and into his "turnout gear" in the rectory of St. Benedict in East Oakland.'

'He got there Friday night thinking it was just a warehouse fire and found an unexpected number of young people milling about outside. "One of them said `some of our friends are still inside that building,'" he said, and that's when he had a hunch he would be there all night.'

"Police officers and firefighters will come up to me and say, `Jeez, you know, I've got a kid the same age,' and that's all they have to say."