Milwaukee apartment fire; police investigate arson, dozens displaced

MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee police are investigating arson after a fire tore through a Milwaukee apartment complex Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 13, injuring several people and displacing dozens of residents.

Apartment fire

What we know:

A 911 call regarding the fire came into dispatch at 1:37 p.m. on Tuesday at the Hampton Gardens apartment complex. Officials said more than 20 apparatus were called to the scene, including engines from North Shore Fire Department.

Police said a suspect intentionally set a fire inside an apartment, damaging multiple units throughout the building. Officials also noted the apartment complex does not have a sprinkler system.

Police said they are actively searching for the known suspect in the arson.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact the MPD at 414-935-7360 or to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 414-224-TIPS or use the P3 Tips app.

Residents displaced, injured

Local perspective:

Milwaukee police said an 81-year-old was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. A 75-year-old and a 67-year-old were also transported for treatment of non-fatal injuries. Six other people were treated for minor injuries, according to fire officials.

Residents said alarms are frequently triggered, making it difficult to immediately know when danger is real.

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"At home taking out my daughter's hair. Next thing I know, I heard the alarms," said Sadie Randolph, a tenant and mother. "Sitting there for a minute because they always pulling the alarms, so I didn't know if it was real or not."

Residents said the situation quickly turned chaotic as firefighters rushed to help people escape heavy smoke and flames.

"[I] heard people banging on doors, ‘Come out,’ and it was so smokey. We come out, whole building was on fire," Randolph said.

"Some people jumped out of the window," recalled tenant Calvin Lewis.

The American Red Cross of Wisconsin said about 51 units were displaced, while Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski estimated roughly 80 units are uninhabitable.

The Red Cross opened a shelter for displaced residents at McNair Elementary School, just a few blocks from the apartment complex.

"I just think that they just need to step it up and do what's right because this is terrible," Randolph said.

Reaction

What they're saying:

"I got to point out to you here. This is 197,684 ft². You put this building together, 230 units, 315 separate beds. And here again, we have a building with no sprinklers," said Lipski. "This building was built in 1979. So we are working to find out precisely what the code was and that moment that allowed this building to be built without the full complement of sprinklers."

"There have been far too many people in the city of Milwaukee over the course of the last year, plus, who have been negatively impacted by fires. We want to see that number go down," said Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson. "All of us will continue to beat the drum to make sure that we get, retrofitted apartment buildings, multifamily units, in the city of Milwaukee so that individuals who live in our city, do not suffer the consequences that we saw here today in this apartment building."

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"How could they build in 1979 without sprinklers? How could anybody even make that decision or have that be a desire at the time of construction? And I'll tell you why. It's money. It's because it's expensive to put sprinklers in. It costs more money. You squeeze less profit out of the development. That's why nobody's going to convince me otherwise," the fire chief said.

MilwaukeeNews