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The building, which they described as a labyrinth of artist studios, had been under investigation for several months. Officials said escape from the building, which had only two exits, might have been complicated because the first and second floors were linked by an ad hoc staircase made of wooden pallets.
On Sunday, the authorities said that three families of victims had been notified, but that other names would be released in the coming hours. On Saturday afternoon, a list of those missing, compiled by friends and family, had grown to about 35 people.
Firefighters arrived just before midnight Friday, and the fire was still smoldering more than 12 hours later.
One survivor, Aja Archuleta, 29, a musician, was scheduled to perform at the electronic music party with her synthesizers and drum machines around 1 a.m. and was working at the door when the fire broke out around 11 or 11:15 p.m.
There were two people on the first level who had spotted a small fire that was growing quickly, she said. It was a very quick and chaotic build, from a little bit of chaos to a lot of chaos.
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"Due to the Chimney affect caused by the open stairwell built with wooden pallets. It would have been virtually impossible to escape the Ghost Ship fire trap from the second floor using this route, imo'..
Example of how rapid a fire can spread; Live burn shows just how quickly #Christmas tree fires can turn devastating and deadly.
National Fire Protection Association -
[video=youtube;xr6b9b8FYKk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr6b9b8FYKk[/video]