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Deadly Milwaukee fire, man identified
The victim of a deadly fire on Milwaukee's east side was identified Jan. 4, 2024. And the cause of the fire was likely a lit cigarette near an at-home oxygen system.
MILWAUKEE - A 62-year-old man is dead after an apartment fire on Milwaukee's east side Wednesday night, Jan. 3.
The fire happened at the Willow Apartments building on Cambridge Avenue near North Avenue. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner was called to the scene around 9:40 p.m.
According to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's investigation report, Jeffery Raffone, 62, was in bed with his wife, Coleen Phillips, who was using at-home oxygen and was smoking a cigarette during the incident. Phillips stated that she dropped her cigarette and there was an explosion with her oxygen line and the bed caught fire.
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Scottie Thigpen, who lives in the apartment building, said it's "kind of surreal" and "crazy."
Phillips said she started to leave the apartment, but Raffone said he needed to find the cat first. Phillips left the apartment and did not see Raffone again.
When the Milwaukee Fire Department arrived at the scene, they entered the apartment through the only entrance and found Raffone lying on the kitchen floor, about 10 feet away from the entrance.
"I heard these booms and glass breaking, and I looked out the window and saw the inferno of flames coming out their apartment," Thigpen said.
Raffone was taken outside the apartment and despite life-saving efforts by first responders, was pronounced dead. He had second-degree burns to his face.
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Later investigation showed the bedroom had extensive fire damage, with "furniture in [the] room blackened in areas and the pink paint was peeling from the surfaces of the wood."
The medical examiner investigator noted the "NO SMOKING, OXYGEN IN USE" sign on the door to the apartment.
About 100–125 people were evacuated.
Larry Weddle cleaning after fire
"An alarm started going off in the building. And it got really smoky and really hot. When you opened the door, you couldn’t see nothing but smoke. So everyone had to crawl to get out," said Larry Weddle, a neighbor.
According to city records, Willow Apartments has 81 residential units. All except for two units were able to return to the building on Wednesday night.
Phillips was taken to the hospital.