ATF believes overloaded electrical lines caused Oakland warehouse fire: report

Dec 13 (Reuters) - Agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were expected to announce on Tuesday that overloaded electrical lines caused the fire at an

Oakland warehouse that killed 36 people earlier this month, the East Bay Times newspaper reported.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the report, which was attributed to sources close to the matter. The ATF scheduled a press conference for 11 a.m. PT (1900 GMT) on Tuesday.

Related: Photos from the warehouse fire in Oakland

The blaze erupted on Dec. 2 during a dance party at the sprawling two-story building known as the Ghost Ship, which was leased to an artists' collective.

It was the deadliest blaze in the United States since 100 people perished in a 2003 nightclub firein Rhode Island.

The dance party was held on the warehouse's second floor, which has partially collapsed. The 10,000-square-foot (900-square-meter) building lacked sprinklers and smoke detectors, and wooden pallets partially formed a makeshift stairway between the first and second floors, officials have said. It had just two exterior doors.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)