Pair used sound of voices to get through back smoke and escape burning Oakland warehouse, witness says

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The ruins of the Ghost Ship warehouse in Oakland, the site of a fire that killed at least 36 people, are seen from above on Dec. 5. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Debris litters the inside of a warehouse where a fire killed 36 people during a club-style party. (David Butow / For The Times)

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A firefighter walks through the burned-out Oakland warehouse on Saturday.

(David Butow / For The Times)

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Firefighters walk through a debris-strewn warehouse where a fire killed at least nine people in Oakland.

(David Butow / For The Times)

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A drone flies over investigators outside Oakland’s Ghost Ship warehouse, where 36 people died this month in one of the worst fires in modern California history. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Titus Cromwell, 4, places a flower from his family’s garden near the scene of the Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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In the days after the Ghost Ship fire in Oakland, hearts dedicated to victims were hung from a nearby tree. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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Daryl Norman, 63, of Oakland stops by the scene of the fire on his way to church in Oakland. “I had to come see for myself,” he said of the 36 victims. “God bless them.”

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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People stand at the perimeter holding flowers while watching crews remove material from what remains of the “Ghostship” warehouse fire, that burned and killed at least 36 people in the Oakland neighborhood of Fruitvale.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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An art installation near the scene of the Ghost Ship fire.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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People pay their respects Dec. 11 near the scene of the warehouse fire.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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Mourners observe a moment of silence for the lives lost in the Ghost Ship warehouse fire at the Oakland Museum of California on Friday evening.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles TImes)

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ATF agents map the scene of the fire investigation Friday at the Ghost Ship warehouse in Oakland. (Francine Orr/ Los Angeles Times)

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles TImes)

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Rain falls on the memorial for victims of the Oakland warehouse fire.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles TImes)

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Hillary Morse, 22, of Oakland mourns the loss of two of her close friends in the warehouse fire in Oakland. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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Jacob Ramirez, 4, left, looks on while his grandmother Eva Ramirez, 52, consoles Hillary Morse, 22, right, of Oakland near the site of the warehouse fire in Oakland.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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Flowers, candles and notes, memorializing those killed and injured in the “Ghostship” warehouse fire that burned and killed at least 36 people in the Oakland neighborhood of Fruitvale.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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A makeshift memorial of flowers and candles stands Dec. 4 near the site of the Oakland warehouse fire. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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A man who identified himself as Ben P. reads cards on Sunday at a memorial near the site of the blaze.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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Kristen Grzeca, a music teacher at Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, hugs Monina Sen Cervone, director of world music and dance at the school, on Sunday at a makeshift memorial for victims of the warehouse fire. A 17-year-old victim was one of Grzeca’s students.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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After attending church, Teionna Cunningham of Oakland leaves flowers near the site of the fire.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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A Seventh Day Adventist group prays on Sunday near the scene of the fire on 31st Avenue in Oakland.

(David Butow / For The Times)

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Flowers are left near an Oakland warehouse where a fire broke out during a concert, killing 36 people.

(David Butow / For The Times)

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Dino Graniello, left, and Jessie Xenakis light candles near the scene of a warehouse fire in Oakland that killed at least two dozen partygoers.

(David Butow / For The Times)

By David Zahniser

and Peter H. King

Dec. 3, 2016 12:55 PM PT

Reporting from OAKLAND —

People who managed to escape the Oakland warehouse that caught fire during a concert late Friday night described a horrific scene.

Al Garcia, who owns a store next to the warehouse, said he talked to two people who said they were 17 and 18 years old who got out of the building.

“They said that black, billowing smoke was coming down the stairs,” said Garcia, 62. “They couldn’t see anything in front of them, anything behind them. The only reason they got out was they heard voices outside. The voices directed them to where they were going.”

The teens said they paid $10 to get into the warehouse party, which they found online, Garcia said.

Authorities sent up a drone above the burned-out warehouse Saturday to take pictures of the ruins. Three coroners vans parked along the backside of the building.

The second floor of the industrial building, which appeared to be mostly brick covered in plaster, apparently housed a large party space.

A narrow back-door entrance on International Avenue had a double lock on the door. Saturday morning, the lock was twisted, like someone had tried to break through it.

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