They give you a glimpse of who they were, how they lived, what they stood for and why they are being mourned tonight. Raj is joining us with the latest developments. Obviously as you look out there still lit up, very active scene. Indeed it is. Not just active but intense. To give you an idea of how intense it is here and how many are working an the clock, 16 to 20hour shifts from the fire crews, the investigators, local and federal agents literally nonstop since this happened on friday. We expect it to continue this way for the next 48 hours. A few minutes ago, we did receive confirmation from the local District Attorney here in Alameda County this is now officially a criminal investigation but ultimately about the lives lost here. Thats the most important thing about this tragedy thats unfolded. Lets tell you the latest and what is surrounding me right now. 31 ast at international. A steady stream of people. Across the bay area. Last night we were here, as well. It was maybe 20 to 30 to 40 people. Now seeing people in the hundreds. A steady stream of tears, hugs and people leaving and lighting candles. Give you an update on the numbers we are working. Heres the official numbers. The death toll has risen to 33 people. Of those 33, eight people have been identified. Heres something interesting. 40 of that warehouse behind me, 40 right now has been searched. That means theres a lot more to go. A lot more work through the night and in to tomorrow in to monday morning. Again, just a short while ago, this has officially become a criminal investigation per the district Alameda CountyDistrict Attorneys office. We have multiple reporters with me on the scene. We have been here through the weekend. We will still here until we get more answers. With have our Investigative Unit working several angles, as well. We talked about the lives lost here. 33 souls. Eight identified. They have some wonderful stories about their lives. One of the people who died in the fireworked at a popular coffee shop in berkeley. With that part of the story lets bring in Marianne Favro in berkeley for us tonight. We have learned that Donna Kellogg was one of the victims of the fire. She was just 32 years old. She worked here at high wire Coffee Roasters in berkeley. She had dreams of becoming a chef. Inside you will find a sign written in chalk telling customers they are hoping to find employee Donna Kellogg. Tonight they learned she was killed in the socalled ghost ship warehouse fire. In between shifts the 38yearold was going to culinary school. Her friend describes her as a free wheeling, free spirited person. Brandon, better known by his stage name also died in the fire. The electronic music artist was the vocalist for the band symbiotic fungi. Other victims include 22yearold catch askew of the dream pop band, them are us 2. Administrative assistant paul who was from coronado called himself a decomposer of music. Uc berkeley graduate david clean received degrees in cognitive science and computer science. And 30yearold sara hoda of walnut creek. She was a teacher, gardner and hardworking person who loved children. Talented sisters, daughters, brothers and sons, all lost in a fiery tragedy. We have confirmed a 17yearold boy died in the fire. The Coroners Office has not released his name because he is a minor and we have confirmed one of the victims was the son of an Alameda County sheriffs deputy. It so tragic because they were so young and talented. Indeed. Marianne favro with us. They were here for friday night fun to listen to music and never made it home. It is difficult to see the picture and hear the stories of their lives. As that is happening so many people in oak lland are mournin what happened at this warehouse fire. There is the investigation and clean up here. Literally piece by piece they are going through debre looking for clues of why this happened but more importantly looking for bodies that might be in the warehouse. Lets bring ielyce kirchner. First responders tried to remove the wreckage meticulously. All day long we have seen people coming here, bringing flowers, lighting candles to remember those who lost their lives. Slowly sifting through the rubble with a grim task. At 33 deceased now. I anticipate that will go up. Reporter criminal investigators are now involved and everyone is trying to determine how a converted warehouse turned in to a death trap. The District Attorney has activated the criminal investigation. Reporter Alameda CountySheriffs Office spokesperson ray kelly says crews have been working an the clock. And tonight kelly confirmed one of the victims is the teenager son of a sheriffs deputy. One of our officers, a person i work with lost his son here. That is very difficult. Reporter family and friends who lost loved ones began to gather nearby in a quiet tribute. Others stopped by to grieve, even though they never met those killed at the music party. It would have could have been any of us. It could have been my brother. It could have been me. It hits this community because theres a lot of warehouses. I live in a warehouse. That leads to things not being fire coded and stuff like this happening. Reporter even after truck loads of rubble have been hauled away, kelly says crews have only been able to access 40 of the building and more anxious families will get the call no one will want. Its like waiting for your name to be called and knowing when it is called it will be the worst day of your life. Thats what we are dealing. So, its taken a toll. A lot to process here. In the coming days crisis counselors will be on hand helping First Responders process everything they have seen here. This is the deadliest fire the city has ever seen. In the last 24 hours, we have been seeing a the scene is a stream of trucks taking away debris. We have been seeing the coroners van as well. Another shipment, perhaps, another carriage here of the coron coroners van goghing to their headquarters, as well. A lot happening here. It continues to evolve throughout the night. For now back to you the studio. Thank you very much. Officials say there are dozens of 1i78 warehouses all over. People live in these art collectives, similar to the building where these people died. How are they allowed to exist . We sent Senior Investigative reporter steven stock to the streets of oakland to ask that question. I live in a warehouse this is not uncommon. Peggy, officials admit they knew there were problems with the warehouse where this tragedy took place and other similar locations around oakland, zoned for commercial use but where people have taken up residence. Fire inspectors climb over and through what is left of a warehouse that is sole with known for various artists called the ghost ship by People Living this the neighborhood. The line of family and friends of those missing and presumed dead carrying flowers and heavy hearts streamed past the warehouse all day. Only blocks away from the tragic scene, oakland city councilman gave us a tour around several other warehouses where he said similar conditions exist and where people live in blighted unsafe conditions without proper permits. You think people live here. There is at the other end. A life long resident he represents the area and lives a couple of blocks from the warehouse where nearly three dozen souls lost their lives. I can tell you, that is not permitted. Why not do anything about it . Why cant the city do anything about it . Were going to address the issue. Reporter he said pictures from inside of the ghost ship warehouse are typical. You are saying everywhere around here. Yeah. What is happening in these areas, it used to be a manufacturing city. These corridors you have many warehouses that have been converted to live work spaces. Reporter many illegally without proper permits or in violation of zoning ordnances. I think it will force us to be more proactive immediately. This this past when oakland Code Enforcement im not going to speculate. One former owner of a warehouse in San Francisco who asked not to be identified told me when people take up residence in the large spaces even without proper permits it can be nearly impossible for owners to get them out because rent control boards and rules take precedence. He said Property Owners often cannot gain access to their own buildings, much like oakland Code Enforcement officials were kept from going inside and inspecting the ghost ship. What are you going to do about it . This is a priority in terms of making sure what is it that we need to enforce our codes from fire codes, building codes and secondly what do we need at the staffing level. Reporter is the city of oak lan drop the ball on this . I think by the enforcement we did. I think we did. These warehouses are becoming so popular is it is cheaper when you can live in these things. I have heard some people pay 200, 300 a month and some as much as 3500 to live in these warehouses. Lower cost. We will see more of this and a lot more emphasis. I think officials will look closer at these. For sure. Thank you so much. We have confirmed the man who found it and ran the artist collective dubbed the ghost ship is on felony probation. Court records show that was convicted in january of receiving stolen property. He spent two days in jail. Hes on proi probation right now. Ion survived the fire. One of his facebook posts is getting a lot of attention. After the fire he wrote this, he confirmed everything i worked for so hard is gone. My blessed my children and micah were at a hotel safe and sound. The post has over 2,000 comments. Many of them are critical of this message. The commenters say he showed more concern for his material possessions than for the number of People Killed in this blaze. People who also know him spoke about the quality of life in that art collective. When there was a party to have, everyone pitched in and created this beautiful space and then after the party, and it started it slipped in to madness. Reporter our Investigative Unit did reach out to ion for comment but have not heard back. You can track the latest information on the investigation as it unfolds. We have it across all of the digital platforms. Check out our twitter feed or breaking news alerts. More questions tonight about how common unpermitted events are. We spoke to one man who works alongside the Arts Community. Hear what he had to say coming up. This is our home. One of the other residents was standing in the doorway with all of the smoke pouring out. Survivors sharing their stories of how they escaped this fire. Our continuing coverage continues in less than two minutes. Did you know slow internet can actually hold your business back . Say goodbye to slow downloads, slow backups, slow everything. Comcast business offers blazing fast and reliable internet thats 10 times faster than slow internet from the phone company. Say hello to internet speeds up to 150 mbps. And add phone and tv for only 34. 90 more a month. Call today. Comcast business. Built for business. Jess 2shot tonight, two women who were inside the warehouse tell they made out out alive in from the burning warehouse but how they did it is harrowing. Their story of smoke and flames. Two women tell us about the frantic moments after the fire broke out. The power went out. I then just jumped off the loft which is ten or 11 feet, something, dont even know. Grabbed a head lamp, used it to find my cat. Grabbed my cat and phone. Grabbed my keys. Im not sure why. And then tried to get out of my gate and out the door. People at that point were trying to push their way through. This is our home. One of the other residents was standing in the doorway with all of this smoke pouring out with his phone out trying to light the way for people trapped inside. Trying to pull people out. He was trying to get people out of there. At some point, i think whether you got out or didnt and i think that time line was under ten minutes from when the fire started to when there was no chance for you getting out. That had to be under ten minutes. Critical ten minutes. Thats why we have seen so few injured people. Only one person was hospitalized here. As the woman aptly said you either got out or you didnt. A lot of emotion. So much shock in that community tonight. It happened so quickly. Firefighters say it will be a long tedious, emotional process here to comb through the warehouse. Everything reduced to rubble. Right now back to raj at the scene. We are just learning Alameda County district prosecutors say it is a criminal investigation. They are working with the oak lan Police Department here. Thats been confirmed ten or 15 minutes ago. And the criminal investigators have been on the site the last 48 hours. Now it is officially a criminal investigation. We are talking about the mood, how it has changed here. Last night was shock and sadness. Tonight we are getting more of a sense of anger from people in the neighborhood and family and friends as well. Why was this building allowed to house people when it wasnt permitted to house people . Why were these artists here and were the conditions up to code inside . A lot of anger here as we all continue to digest what happened. Christie smith is joining us with the concerns on not just this warehouse but other warehouses in the area. Christie . Reporter we spoke to joseph, who worked alongside the Arts Community for years but he says there are some promoters or Event Locations he wont work at because hes concerned they may not operate safely he said what matters is that a renn you operate using best practices and that is what he helps with in his business. He said he has not actually be to the ghost ship. At that location. But what he has done, he said, is work with venues on being safe. Several people do describe that location as dangerous, crowded and a maze of walkways. He previously worked as chief of Public Safety and was on the San Francisco entertainment commission. He says that parties in unpermitted locations well, they are just part of the Arts Community and theres an issue because they in some cases the zoning doesnt allow for it or cant afford the permits but go ahead with it any way. The majority care about the safety and well being of their attentees of the event. They will undoubtedly have things to learn and change as a result of that. Pred said one of the challenges that most counties and states have different criteria and even professional event organizers dont have consistency in how they operate. Though many consider what happened here a very extreme example. Live in oakland, christie smith, nbc bay area news. Thank you very much. Work is ongoing at this hour. The grim task of trying to remove the bodies and in some cases remains from the charred warehouse continue. We want to look at this. What the crews are doing inside of this warehouse. They are trying to do it in the most humane, compassionate way possible. They are really making every effort. Make no mistake. This is a very methodical process. This is an ariel view. Christie was talking about the party. She is talking about the second floor. The first floor is where people were living. The first thing fire crews had to do is come to this side of the building and remove the junction outside. Literally stuff dumped in the vacant lot. They removed that. Cut and breached the wall and on the west side of the building they brought in excavators, the dump trucks. The next thing they divided the building in to four quadrants, just like this, four teams of firefighters coming in. They went to this section the fire battalion chief said one victim found just 15 feet from where they walked in. They took the crews and went down a path right here all the way to the east side of the building where they found three bodies on the east side. They doubled back and went here. What is the center of the building, the center of the collapsed area. They say there were large timber rafters from the measuzzanine t the roof. Ten people dead in this collapsed zone alone. You have to remember, they are wearing cover alls and filling buckets as respectfully as they can, with the debris, the leftovers of this building and loading them in to dump trucks out here. Faces are covered in soot and debris. I see all of these orange and white buckets and they are moving in an Assembly Line fashion to the side where we poked a hole in the building. It is grueling, somber work. Firefighters say they are doing it in utter quiet. The mayor and Sergeant Kelly describing it as a heart breaking ordeal. You have to remember these men and women doing this, although they are professionals and trained and this is their job, they are mothers and fathers and remember they recover the body of one of their own sheriffs deputys son. Then moved to an undisclosed location where they identify the bodies and continue the criminal investigation. When something this tragic happens people want to help. People locally are dropping off notes or candles to remember the victims even if they didnt know them personally. People all over the bay area and also all over the country are offering support to the victims and their families. Theres many ways you can donate. Theres a full list of how to do that. You can find it on our website at nbc bay area. Com. Its already chilly in downtown san jose. Right now 55 degrees. We are tracking a drop in temperatures. Plus, a look ahead at what we can expect for rain chances coming up in a bit. Other news of the day including Vice President elect mike pence defending a move by donald trump. The phone call that the president elect took is causing some concern. Details coming up. Think of your fellow man. Lend him a helping hand. Put a little love in your heart. Take a good look around. And if youre lookin down, put a little love in your heart. Put a little love in your heart. In your heart. avo the subaru