Fire causes $40K in damage to Wauwatosa apartment building, no one injured

WAUWATOSA -- Wauwatosa firefighters on Thursday night, May 12th responded to the scene of an apartment fire on 111th Street near Clarke. The call came in around 8:30 p.m.

Wauwatosa police were first on-scene and assisted with removal of occupants prior to the Fire Department’s arrival.

When fire crews arrived on scene, they found an eight-family apartment building with visible smoke coming from the structure. Fire crews quickly determined that the fire was located in the bedroom of a first floor apartment and extinguished the fire.

All of the apartments were searched and it was determined that all occupants had been removed without injury. Smoke detectors in the building did activate and notified occupants of the fire.

The exact cause is still under investigation but believed to be accidental in nature and possibly caused by improper use of a lighter.

No injuries occurred at the scene and damage to the building and property is estimated at $40,000.

American Red Cross was on-scene to assist with temporary housing for the building tenants. The Wauwatosa Fire Department was assisted by mutual aid fire departments including Milwaukee, North Shore, Brookfield, and Elm Grove.