Milwaukee apartment fire; 3 rescued from balcony, 19 left homeless
Apartment fire: 3 rescued, 19 left homeless
Fire damaged an apartment building on Milwaukee's north side early Friday morning, Feb. 21 – and left 19 people without a home.
MILWAUKEE - Fire damaged an apartment building on Milwaukee's north side early Friday morning, Feb. 21 – and left 19 people without a home. The fire broke out shortly before 4 a.m. at the Willow Court apartments on Lynx Avenue – just south of Bender Avenue.
Apartment fire
What we know:
When firefighters arrived at the scene, they found heavy fire conditions on the second floor of the two-story, eight-family apartment building.
Apartment fire on Lynx Avenue near Bender, Milwaukee
Some of the residents were attempting to self-rescue by jumping off a second floor balcony. In total, three people were rescued from the balcony. Officials say 20 people were evacuated from the structure.
All patients were evaluated by Milwaukee Fire Department paramedic units. No one was transported from the scene.
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Apartment fire on Lynx Avenue near Bender, Milwaukee
One dog was rescued.
Residents alerted
What they're saying:
"I’m a real light sleeper and I smelled smoke," said Dale Kazee, who lived in the building. "I just seen flames shooting out of the second floor window."
"The amount of smoke that was pouring from there gave us an indication we had a decent amount of fire in that unit itself," said Milwaukee Battalion Chief Nickolas Trost. "Beyond the complexity of fighting a fire, we also had the fact that we were trying to get a bunch of people rescued from that building as well."
Apartment fire on Lynx Avenue near Bender, Milwaukee
"I’m just happy that everybody made it out safe," Kazee said. "It’s a dream. It’s a dream. I would’ve never thought it would hit home."
Again, the Red Cross told FOX6 News that five children and 14 adults were displaced as a result of the fire.
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One unit in the building was a total loss. The other seven are unlivable at this time.
Seeking a cause
What's next:
Fire investigators say this fire was caused by space heaters being too close to combustibles.
The Source: The information in this post was provided by the Milwaukee Fire Department.