Family members say man torched his own home at 34th & St. Paul, and they tried to get him help



MILWAUKEE -- A house near 34th and St. Paul Avenue in Milwaukee went up in flames on Thursday morning, May 19th. FOX6 News obtained video showing the home engulfed in flames, taken by Fred Brown, who was at the scene before firefighters arrived. The flames were so intense, motorists called 911 to say they could see the smoke from I-94.

There is no official word on the cause of the fire are this time. However, the Milwaukee Fire Department is calling it "suspicious."

No one was hurt in the fire -- but a lot was lost. Still, the couple that lived upstairs thanked firefighters for a happy ending, despite the fact that they lost their home.

"I'm at a loss for words. It started at like, two something (Thursday) morning. Pounding on our doors and stuff," said Janee Robinson and Dennis Taylor.



Robinson and Taylor said their downstairs neighbor woke them.

"First time ever meeting this guy was 2 o'clock in the morning. The first time. Weird, and extremely creepy. Like, 'I'm the king and everyone must die.' He just said he was going to kill us. He said, 'you are going to die today. I'm the landlord. You're getting evicted,'" said Robinson and Taylor.

Afraid for their lives, the couple left their home at 4:00 a.m. They returned to chaos.

"Heartbreaking. Everything is gone. It's so heartbreaking," said Robinson and Taylor.

The couple is set to marry next month. Her gown, his tux and their rings were all inside the burning home.

"It's really going to be hard coming back from all this," said Robinson and Taylor.

PHOTO GALLERY



Firefighters on Thursday fought the flames -- and an uncooperative resident.

"A civilian was standing on their hose line, pulling on their hose line, sticking a metal rod into their hose line -- misdirecting and providing them with misinformation about the number of people, and the possible location of those people, in the home. And it put our firefighters at tremendous risk," said Deputy Chief Aaron Lipski.

Fire at 34th and St. Paul



"If he has an episode or he's not treated, he can be deadly," said the man's relative.

The man's sister-in-law says he suffers from mental illness and likely torched the home. He was caught on camera waving his arms as he walked by the burning home.

"We even tried a day before this incident to get the police to admit him, or help him," said the woman.



Family members say their calls for help went unanswered.

"What is it going to take for mentally ill people to be treated right? The whole block to burn down or kids to die? That's really sad," said the man's sister-in-law.

Officials say the man told first responders there were children trapped upstairs in the burning home.

"Very, very rapid efforts were made to search that area from the exterior. Very dangerous for us to do that but the companies did the right thing. They made a real quick push in there they did not find the person in that room," said Lipski.

That man was questioned and arrested at the scene.

Later, as investigators sifted through the rubble at the scene, they located a smokey box with shiny wedding rings inside.



Robinson and Taylor do not have renters insurance -- so the American Red Cross is helping them out financially and with necessities.

The fire remains under investigation.



Monitor FOX6 News and FOX6Now.com for updates on this developing story.