By Louis Chan
AsAmNews National Correspondent
Three Asian Americans have been identified as among the 36 killed in last Friday night’s warehouse fire in Oakland.
Vanessa Plotkin,21, is a Filipino American student who attended U.C. Berkeley and majored in sociology. She grew up in Lakewood, California near Los Angeles. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, she contacted her twin sister Victoria in New York City just 30 minutes before the tragedy occurred.
“I love you baby sis, you will remain forever in my heart,” her brother Gavin wrote on Facebook.
Plotkin volunteered at the campus radio station, KALX.
Ara Jo, 29, was an artist and musician who lived in Oakland. She is survived by her parents who live in South Korea.
The East Bay Times says she was a key organizer of the East Bay Alternative Book and Zine Fest which is scheduled to take place this weekend in Berkeley.
“She’s an incredibly energetic person, a person who can cheer up a room just by existing,” said Jeremy Erickson, print specialist at The Ink Stone where Jo worked. “A lot of energy packed in that small body…It’s hard not to like her.”
Jennifer Kiyomi Tanouye,31, loved to paint nails and set up a nail art booth on the second floor of the Ghost Ship Warehouse the night of the tragedy.
The Mercury News says she was a music manager at Shazam.
“She was a light,” said her best friend Ronnie Casey. “To know her was to love her.”
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