Milwaukee 19th and Burnham fire; 1-year-old girl, woman found dead

MILWAUKEE - A woman and baby were found dead after a fire near 19th and Burnham on Milwaukee's south side Wednesday, April 12. The Milwaukee Fire Department made the tragic announcement Thursday after initially reporting no injuries.

The medical examiner's office identified the victims as a 27-year-old woman and 1-year-old girl.

"Anything is possible. Life is too short. You got to live every moment because unexpected things can happen very quickly," said Cynthia Frith of West Allis.

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The three-alarm blaze broke out Wednesday just before 4 p.m., and fire crews arrived at the scene in roughly three minutes. Officials said at the time there were no injuries but that two people were unaccounted for, initially believed to have not been home. 

"There were people unaccounted for, and no one said they're in the building. They just said they didn't know where they were," said MFD Assistant Chief DeWayne Smoots.

Officials said Thursday that the victims were not missed during the initial search; rather, firefighters were unable to get into the home due to the amount of fire and the collapsing building. The victims were found Thursday morning.

"Did we miss the bodies? The answer was no, we did not miss the bodies," said Smoots.

At the time, the firefighters believed they just weren't home, and the extensive flames and wind prevented firefighters from going inside to look for them.

"There was just so much fire and then the buildings collapsing," said Smoots. "There was no way for us, for me to safely have my firefighters work."

Three homes were destroyed, and a fourth was damaged. Thursday, two of the three homes were torn down. Smoots said fires that involve that number of homes at once are extremely rare.

Wind drove flames between the houses, and a gas leak at one of the houses helped fuel the fire, officials said. It is unclear if the fire prompted the gas leak or the gas leak prompted the fire, but officials said the victims were found in the home where the gas leak was. 

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There have been nine fire-related deaths in the city so far in 2023.

There was so much fire, it remained unclear Thursday if any of the homes had working smoke alarms. Firefighters were in the neighborhood Thursday afternoon, knocking on doors to check for smoke alarms.

"Of course, I have suspicions, and I'm very concerned that there was not one there, and we have to make sure -- I've done these canvasses with the fire department before -- that folks have working smoke alarms in their homes," said Alderwoman JoCasta Zamarripa.

Anyone in need of a smoke alarm can call the city's hotline – 414-286-8980 – to arrange for a firefighter to install an alarm free of charge. 

The American Red Cross of Wisconsin was called to assist anyone in need of help from the fire: 1-800-236-8680.