live where you live. this is "abc 7 news." >> it was a death trap. i didn't know it was illegal. they don't tell you that when you first move in. they tell you this big line about how it's going to be this artist collective. >> one woman's story about what it was like to live inside of an illegally converted warehouse in oakland where at least 36 people lost their lives in that fast-moving fire. the youngest victim so far, just 17 years old. thanks for joining us today. >> it is an agonizing wait now for the families. . the death toll is expected to grow. we begin with abc 7 reporter amy

hol hollyfield live at that scene. amy? >> natasha, they still aren't inside search for victims. they say it just isn't safe. i just talked to a spokesperson who says they have crews inside right now trying to shore up the building. and they're hoping to get search crews back in there very soon. the morning started off with the news that they couldn't search overnight, and more bad news about fatalities. >> since our last update we have located and recovered 36 victims. of the 36, 11 have been positively identified. >> reporter: officials went on to say they still expect more victims will be found. as people continue to grieve at the site of friday night's deadly fire in oakland, for some, that grief is turning to anger. >> it was a death trap. >> reporter: shelly mack lived inside ghost ship warehouse for five months. she decided to speak out today and describe what it was like inside because she is angry this happened and says it could have been prevented. >> shortly after i moved in the

transformer blew. we had no electricity. and i was asking, well, how come we're not calling pg&e. >> she said she moved in because it was cheap, $700 a month but she called police several times when she realized what was going on. she says the conditions inside were dangerous. >> they block the back stairway because they run the electrical cords down the back stairway, through them, over there. when there's an event they block the back stairway because they don't want people tripping overall the illegal cords were a criminal investigation has been launched to look into allegations like these. but the search for evidence and victims had to be put on hold overnight because the building was deemed unsafe. the front of it is leaning. >> for us as firefighters working under a wobbly, potentially collapsing exterior wall is extremely dangerous. >> they do hope that they're

going to beat the rain. there is a new urgency now. rain could hamper the search. but, fire chief telling us they are still going to be very careful, meticulous. they're not going to speed up their work. they do have atf agents here on the scene to help with the recovery effort. >> amy, there's so much, thank you. there is a lot of debris and a irt. fire department needs to put it in a secure location to go through it more closely later on. >> burned wood, pieces of the warehouse walls and remnants of the artist studios themselves, being hauled away right now. fire officials say they need to protect all of the debris from the scene from rain later this week. just to be safe. >> it is not salvageable and it is complete debris at this point. and -- but we need to preserve it for evidence and we will be probably be putting cadaver dogs through it later on just to verify. >> this is what it looked like before. photos from the ghost ship website earlier dated.

it was cluttered, how cluttered the artist spaces were before the flames broke out. oakland fire investigators don't know how the fire started but they do think they know where it began. the fire department said this morning it started in the back of the bhilding on the first floor. that's where the artist collective was located. that area would have been beneath the dance floor which collapsed during the fire. the fire was extraordinarily hot as well and that's what allowed it to spread so quickly. >> those who knew the fire victims with sharing memories. one of the people we honor today is sara hoda. hoda was a teacher, 30 years old from walnut creek. at urban montessori school where hoda taught. >> that's right. grief counselors are here at this montessori school. parents we talked to said they feel pretty lucky to have their kids go to this school because it works on a lottery system. so they're selected. and they felt even more

fortunate to have sara hoda as one of the teachers here. when you're 6 years old it's not easy understanding the loss of life. monday morning this class learned their beloved teacher died in the oakland ghost ship warehouse fire. >> any time we lose a community member we feel it. and in a case as tragic as this one, for sure it hits deeper. >> yeah, it's definitely hard. you know, we're here to support our students, creating spaces for them to be able to talk with their teachers and shash their feelings. >> reporter: heart-shaped cards is today's classroom project. each one a special tribute for sara hoda. she worked in this room as a support teacher. friends say hoda was compassionate, loved gardening and kids. >> her family is planning to visit the school today, and we hope we can pass along some of those rememberings and offerings to her family.

>> reporter: grief counselors are on hand to console this entire school community. >> many of our students go through a lot of grief on a regular basis, a lot of trauma. so this is -- this is east oakland and, you know, we just look to support them no matter what. >> reporter: it was sara hoda's first year working at the montessori school and in that short time she left a lasting impression. >> reporter: grief counselors will stay here today and through tomorrow. live in east oakland, abc7 news. you can see sara hoda's photo here. just one of the victims being mourned by families and friends. abcnews reporter has more on the young people our community lost in this fire. jessica? >> that's right. and all of these victims were young. they all have something in common, they love the arts. these are some brand new pictures we just received of 24-year-old david cline. he lived in oakland and recently

graduated from uc berkeley in computer science. his brother in a statement wrote, quote, david was an incredible man, amazing brother, perfect son, inspiring friend to everyone who was fortunate enough to have him in their lives. he described david was, quote, kind, open, nonjudgmental and excited about life. his brother signed the note, quote, david, we love you forever. i'm going to get more information about the other victims and i'll have much more on that later in this newscast. back to you. >> thank you so much, jessica. it is just so hard to see their photos and learn about their stories although i'm glad we have the space to be able to do that p. our coverage continues online as more details pour in on each one of them. you share this badge or page through the resource we put together with more on the identities and photo ts coming in. look for it on our front page with all of our oakland warehouse fire coverage. we're continuing to learn more about the man who rented out the ghost ship for the

party. we track down derrick almena. we were the first to tell you about this on saturday morning. oakland city officials say he did not have the special permit needed for friday's rave party. he also is criticized online for this facebook post after the fire where he did not mention any of the victims. ion has since deleted his facebook page but spoke briefly last night in oakland. it's an interview you will see only on 7. >> many people have been wondering if you have anything to say to them. >> they were my children. they're my friends. they're my family. they're my love, they're my future. what else do i have to say? >> since ion did not have a permit fire officials say criminal charges are a possibility. even if the cause of the fire was accidental. the oakland city council member who represents the fruit veil district says code enforcement problems are not isolated to the ghost ship. he says there may be 200 other similar buildings that aren't up

to code. and he said the city needs to hold landlords accountable. residents say that high rents are forcing many to make do and crowded unsafe buildings converted illegally by landlords. >> turns them into two bedroom into a fire bedroom and does the wiring himself and someone's power surges them out and they catch on fire. >> we should not be waiting for tragedy. we should be more active in our community, hold these buildings accountable. >> we're hearing from a number of people who say it is quite upsetting that it takes a tragedy like this to start a discussion on code enforcement. president obama is responding to the tragedy now in a statement just released this morning. he says his prayers go out to the people of oakland and thanks dedicated first responders for tear tireless work. he says, quote, oakland is one of the most diverse and creative cities in our country. and as families and residents pull together in the wake of this awful tragedy. they will have the unwavering support of the american people. our coverage of the oakland

warehouse fire continues just ahead. new this morning, flags in oakland city hall at half-staff honoring the victims. how you can join the effort and the memorials happening around the bay area tonight. more on the tough task ahead. mother nature is adding new urgency to the recovery work. meteorologist lisa will show

we're back with our cover ran of the oakland warehouse fire. the building itself is so damaged the firefighters had to stop their work looking for the

victims and continue trying to just shore up the structure a-to-make sure they are safe inside. the material unside has been another obstacle. let's look at these photos from the ghost ship's facebook page. they show the intricate content, pianos, beds, wooden pallets, various artwork. recovery crews have encountered a lot of unusual items including what we saw here in this video. see that? it looks like a world war ii era artifact. crews tell us they have 30% of the building left to search. another factor playing into this effort, the weather. firefighters are hoping to get their search complete before it rains. >> yeah. to be clear, the crews say they're not going to rush their investigation to get ahead of any storm but they're certainly keep an eye on the impending forecast. >> let's go to lisa with a look at what we can expect for the rest of the week. are you saying that wednesday would be the first chance for rain? >> yes, the current forecast models hold off the rain for at least 48 hours. and i'm starting the forecast animation right now. 10:00 tuesday night. so we're dry tomorrow and then

look at wednesday, clouds increase 9:00 in the morning. but it's going to take the bulk of the day for this rain to slip south. you can see marin, sonoma counties, the rain is up to the north by 3:00 and then, by 5:00, 6:00, this is when it shifts throughout the bay area. and, in fact, it's going start a significant pattern change with some very heavy rain potentially for the second half of the week. come back in a few minutes and i'll time it out for you. >> lisa, thank you. in the wake of the fire, members of the oakland community as well as the victims' families and friends are coming together in their grief. >> take a look at this flower memorial that continues to grow near the warehouse at 31st avenue. mourners using a chain linked fence as a canvas. leaving flowers, single white rose, carnations. as you can see there, candles that are now on the sidewalk. >> a large candlelight vigil is planned tonight at 8:00 p.m. on facebook with you can see now

more than 3300 people say, yes, they will be going. >> for those of you in san francisco, residents are going to hold their own candlelight vigil. anyone is invited. organizers say this will start at 5:30 at harvey milk plaza in the castro. donations keep pouring in to help families hurt by the fire. one drive on the website youcaring.com has far surpassed the original $100,000 goal. it's now at $350,000. it's now $252,948. >> we have a lot of generous people here in the bay area. our coverage of the oakland fire continues on abcnews.com. you can also download our free abc7 news app that will enable push alerts to get updates throughout the day. next, there are new developments on the trump transition. who has just been appointed to the president-elect's cabinet? and what happened to sherri papini. what her

so important to honor those who we have lost in the oakland warehouse fire. we have been getting more information. their photos and information about the victims. jessica is now back with more on their stories. jessica? >> earlier we told you about sara hoda and david cline. i now have new information on the 17-year-old who died. mentioned often in notes left at these makeshift memorials. we cannot tell you his name is draifen mcgill, attended school of the arts in san francisco. school officials sent out a statement confirming mcgill's death a short time ago. 32-year-old donna kellogg graduated from san francisco state. the chick co-born woman was an

avid drummer, loved the out doorps and cooking. been don whitnour described as genuine and talented musician and according to his page, the 32-year-old lived also once in anythinicaragu nicaragua. travis huff on facebook friends describe him as, quote, a musical genius. huff was in a band called ghosts of lightning that released an album this year under an independent label. nick gomez-hall from san diego, a friend wrote just this morning on his facebook page, nick was, quote, a positive influence on his life and everyone he met. the 25-year-old was an avid world traveler as well. cash askew, just 22 years. part of a musical duo named them or us too. their sound cloud website shows they had gig in argentina next year. their facebook page has been flooded with pamessages in the

last two days. now you're accuweather forecast. >> good morning to you. going through a pattern change right now. some cooler air moves into the north bay. that's where it's sunny. live doppler 7, overlay the clouds so you can see how gray it is out there. but in the north bay a little bit of clearing. i want to show you the system to the north will be affecting us first in terms of the colder air and then out to the west, this is a tropical fetch that's going to bring in decent rain wednesday through the first part of the weekend. looks cold. temperatures are actually pretty mild out there. not going to go very far today. 54 in mountain view and san jose and half moon bay. one hour and 42 minute delays here at sfo. 50 in novato. we need sunshine to warm us up and bring the numbers up. we'll have it in santa cruz where it's in the mid 50s. highs today may be about 60. but i think most of you will be hard pressed to reach 60. so partly cloudy this afternoon.

frosty spots for wednesday morning. that's the toldest morning. and then rain arrives late wednesday into looks like saturday. so as we go ahead and look at the overnight lows this will be the pileder morning tomorrow morning. 40s in oakland. upper 30ed and then first system pushes on through. here's a second shot of re-enforcing cold air. so this is what's going to make your wednesday morning pretty frosty. look at the blue line here. this is the colder air with wide spread 30s so you want to cover the vegetation, bring in the pets, and then get excited for warmer start on thursday. but with that we want to time out when the rain is going to move in. it looks like by later in the day on wednesday, then light showers all wednesday night. thursday it's on and off showers but look at this, thursday night into friday. this is when the heavy rain looks to push through the bay area. looks to focus in the south bay and east bay for a change. so if you look at the amounts anywhere from the north bay to san jose, they've got an inch and a half where this forecast model wants to bring you three

inches in mountain view. still time between now and then. as for today the quietest day, partly cloudy. 50s around the bay. accuweather seven-day forecast, notice the colder start tomorrow. increasing clouds wednesday. first chance of rain in the early ebbing hours. thursday looks like a messy day. two on our storm impact scale. at this point we're doing to stop the rain midday saturday. but of course if you download our app you get those push alerts and we'll have updates of course in timing will probably change. >> brat. did i hear you say three inches of rain? >> i know. i know. >> it seems like a lot of rain. >> there's still time for it to figure itself out and change. >> thanks. this morning we're getting new details. sherri papini's husband is releasing bits and pieces about what happened. papini vanished three weeks before thanksgiving and suddenly reappeared that thursday. questions remain about exactly what happened. he spoke to abc news in an exclusive interview. >> i can tell you that there was, you know, guns involved.

>> someone has gun you're going to do what they say. >> yeah. and i would say it's -- it's more than that as well. she didn't get into a vehicle on her own or even pulled to, i guess you could say. >> hundreds of people in redding welcomed sherri back this weekend gathering at the civic center to create a video christmas card for the family. new this morning, from the trump transition. the president-elect names dr. ben carson as the next secretary of the department of housing and urban development, or hud. carson became an early and vocal supporter of trump after dropping out of the presidential race in march. the president-elect called carson a brilliant mind and says the pair talked about strengthening the economy in urban areas. of course now the senate needs to confirm that nomination. the people of oakland in that tragedy still top of mind for so many of us this morning. this is one way that you can show that you stand with the people of oakland. we have this badge on our

facebook page. go ahead and find it

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school comes together to remember a life lost too soon. there is an important cause that benefits underprivileged children and their family. olympic champions like skier johnny moseley will at at&t park along with joe stately for the annual holay heroes fund-raiser. abc7 is proud to once again sponsor this events. a very known sheryl jennings and kristen sooe will be there. there are still tickets available. go to abc7news.com if does a whole lot of good. get ready for cooler weather, right? >> yes, cooler weather and looks like a lot of rain. >> okay. >> thank you so much for joining us. >> until we see you again, have a great day.

>> what's more fun than changing someone's life by handing them a seven-figure check? i got nothing. let's play "who wants to be a millionaire." [dramatic music] ♪ [cheers and applause] welcome to the show, everybody. are you guys ready to play "millionaire" today? [cheers and applause] all right, all last week, we were playing our game with some your favorite bachelors and bachelorettes from the past, and well, one of them just won't leave. that's probably because we have some unfinished business to take care of. he's back, he's in the middle of a great game--so let's bring him out right now. ladies and gentlemen, from san antonio, texas, byron velvick. [cheers and applause] >> great to see you. >> how you doing? >> good. [cheers and applause] >> i mean, this guy is sta