ghost ship fire

Remembering the Ghost Ship victims: 'You don't forget people like that'

By by Melanie Woodrow
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
We are getting to know the stories of many talented artists who passed away in the Ghost Ship fire before their time.
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- We're learning more about the victims in the warehouse fire. Many who died were talented artists who passed before their time.

RELATED: Oakland woman visits Ghost Ship memorial 'Your lives meant something'

Hanna Ruax was a yoga instructor and jewelry maker who had just relocated to Oakland from Finland. She was engaged to Alex Ghassan, a filmmaker.

They weren't the only couple who passed away in the Ghost Ship fire. Alex Vega and his high school sweetheart Michela Gregory also spent their final moments together. "They loved each other very much," said Lucero Govea, a Capuchino High School wellness counselor. "It's just very tragic for them to just have been taken from us so soon. It just really hits close to home."

Vega made quite the impression on his former counselor, who says he was a creative and gentle soul.

"There's just something about him, his presence that definitely sticks out to me. You don't forget people like that, you just don't forget," said Govea.

Sonia Kominek-Adachi says her friend Amanda Kershaw was also memorable. "She's an infectious personality and she comes in and she's a firecracker," she said.

Kominek-Adachi got to know Kershaw as her hairdresser before encouraging her to share her photography in the salon she worked at. "She has grown so much personally, professionally and artistically in the five years that I've known her," Kominek-Adachi told ABC7 News.

These young people represent many artists in their prime whose lives ended too soon.

RELATED: Some victims of Oakland warehouse fire identified
The full list of victims of the Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland, Calif. are listed here, and will be updated as more victim names are released.none
Jonathan Bernbaum, 34, from Berkeley was identified as one of the victims of the Oakland fire.none
Billy Dixon, 35, from Oakland, Calif. was identified as one of the victims of the Oakland fire.none
Barrett Clark, 35, from Oakland was identified as one of the victims of the Oakland fire.none
Ara Jo, 29, from Oakland, Calif. was identified as one of the victims of the Oakland fire.none
Peter Wadsworth, 38, from Oakland was identified as one of the victims of the Oakland fire.none
Nicholas Walrath, 31, from Oakland was identified as one of the victims of the Oakland fire.none
Wolfgang Renner, 61, from Oakland, Calif. was identified as one of the victims of the Oakland fire.none
Griffin Madden, 23, of Berkeley, Calif. was identified as one of the victims of the Oakland fire.none
Jason McCarty, 35, from Oakland, Calif. was one of the victims of the Oakland fire.none
Jennifer Mendiola, 35, from Oakland, Calif. was identified as one of the victims of the Oakland fire.none
Joseph Matlock, known as Joey Casio, 36, from Oakland, Calif. is one of the victims of the Oakland fire.none
Benjamin Runnels, 32, from Oakland, Calif. was one of the victims killed in the Oakland fire.none
Chelsea Dolan, 33, from San Francisco, Calif. was one of the victims killed in the Oakland fire.none
Em Bohlka, 33, from Oakland, Calif. was one of the victims killed in the Oakland fire.none
Alex Vega, 22, from San Bruno, Calf. was a victim of the Oakland fire. His girlfriend, Michela Gregory, also died in the fire.none
Amanda Kershaw, 34, from San Francisco, Calif. was one of the victims killed in the Oakland fire.none
Hanna Ruax, 32, from Helsinki, Finland was one of the victims killed in the Oakland fire.none
Denalda Nicole Renae, also known as Nicole Seigrist, 29, from Oakland, Calif. was one of the victims killed in the Oakland fire.none
Johnny Igaz, 34, of Oakland, Calif. was one of the victims killed in the Oakland fire.none
Vanessa Plotkin, 21, of Oakland, Calif. was one of the victims killed in the Oakland fire.none
Feral Pines, 29, of Berkeley, Calif. was one of the victims killed in the Oakland fire.none
Jennifer Kiyomi Tanouye, 31, of Oakland, Calif. was one of the victims killed in the Oakland fire.none
Jennifer Morris, 21, of Foster City, Calif. was one of the victims killed in the Oakland fire.none
Edmond Lapine, 34, of Oakland, Calif. was one of the victims killed in the Oakland fire.none
Alex Ghassan, 35, of Oakland, Calif. was one of the victims killed in the Oakland fire.none
Michela Gregory, 20, of South San Francisco, Calif. was one of the victims killed in the Oakland fire. Her boyfriend, Alex Vega (right), was also a victim of the fire.none
Micah Danemayer, 28, of Oakland, Calif. was one of the victims killed in the Oakland fire.none
David Cline, 24 of Oakland, Calif. was killed in the Ghost Ship warehouse fire.none
Brandon Chase Wittenauer, 32, of Hayward, Calif.was killed in the Ghost Ship warehouse fire.none
Cash Askew, 22, of Oakland, Calif. was killed in the Ghost Ship warehouse fire.none
Draven McGill, the youngest victim confirmed so far, attended Asawa School of the Arts in San Francisconone
Nick Gomez-Hall, 25, of Coronado, Calif. was killed in the Ghost Ship warehouse fire.none
Sara Hoda, 30, of Walnut Creek, Calif. was killed in the Ghost Ship warehouse fire.none
Travis Hough, 35, of Oakland, Calif.was killed in the Ghost Ship warehouse fire.none
Donna Kellogg, 32, Oakland, Calif. was killed in the Ghost Ship warehouse fire that broke out late at night on Dec. 2.none


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