Milwaukee apartment fire near Sherman and Florist, dozens homeless

MILWAUKEE - Dozens of people are homeless after a fire tore through a Milwaukee apartment building near Sherman and Florist on Thursday, July 20. Public records reveal it wasn't the first fire damage reported at the complex this year.

The Milwaukee Fire Department said the cause of the latest fire on Thursday is still part of an open investigation. The police department added it doesn't appear to be suspicious. 

The fire department reported 30 to 50 people were without a home because of the fire. That group includes Alan McNeil.

"When I came outside, the smoke was so thick, I started coughing instantly," said Alan McNeil. "I have bronchitis and asthma. There was no going in there and saving anything. It was that bad. The smoke was nasty."

McNeil's apartment was several across from the hardest hit units at the Sherman Gardens Apartments, where about 50 firefighters battled the fire.

"God was most definitely with us. They some lifesavers," said McNeil. "They came in; they contained it; they did what they were trained to do. They did their jobs; they saved a lot of people's lives."

The Milwaukee Fire Department said everyone got out safely and no one was hurt.

"Yeah, I was asleep, so somebody knocked on my door, and I just smelled the smoke, and I went to the hallway," said Ken Black, who also lived in the apartment building. "By the time I went outside, it was probably about ten minutes, and the building was just burning up like paper."

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Apartment building fire near Sherman and Florist, Milwaukee

"I'm back at square one. I ain't got nowhere to go, really," said McNeil. "I went from having something to not having nothing again."

"I don't have anything, and I don't know what's going on," said Black. "I'm basically homeless and lost everything."

The American Red Cross opened a shelter to help. Seven people stayed Thursday night, and 20 registered for Friday, as people out of their homes and without their things, find something to hold onto.

"Just keep faith. I mean, a lot of things happen, but when one door close, another one opens up," said McNeil.

Apartment building fire near Sherman and Florist, Milwaukee

The building is owned by Berrada Properties. FOX6 News looked at public records and discovered the Department of Neighborhood Services did the most recent fire inspection on the Sherman Gardens Apartments in February of this year. The inspector reported no violations at that time. 

Public records reveal this isn't the first fire there this year.

The complex did have some damage reported in April 2023 from a cooking fire, according to Department of Neighborhood Services documents. 

In 2021 Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul sued the company for violating landlord-tenant laws. It's still in court, but the company's attorney denied they did anything wrong.

Apartment building fire near Sherman and Florist, Milwaukee