Milwaukee house fire, 1 person hurt; house appeared to be vacant
MILWAUKEE - Investigators are working to piece together what caused a house fire at what appeared to be a vacant house in Milwaukee on Sunday, Nov. 10.
One person was hurt in the fire.
Neighbors watched as firefighters worked near Palmer and Wright on Sunday morning.
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House fire near Palmer and Wright
The fire caused chaos and confusion.
"I don’t know what was going on," said Mike.
The emergency call came in at 9:25 a.m.
"At 9:30 we had companies on scene, reporting fire on the first floor, extending to the second floor," said Deputy Fire Chief Ron Firnrohr, who also said one person made it out on their own.
"That person alerted us to the possibility of someone being trapped on the second floor. We assigned companies to the second floor to search," Firnrohr added.
The fire department says crews got to the second floor. The smoke created zero-visibility conditions.
MFD response outside the house
Firefighters managed to find a person who was unconscious.
"They carried him out, laid him on the thing, threw him in the truck and took off," Mike added.
The fire department says the building appeared to be vacant based on the boarded-up windows and doors.
Property records show a corporation purchased the property in the spring.
The front of the house near Palmer and Wright
In July, the Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services issued the property owner a fine because of a garbage and solid waste violation.
On Sunday morning, the Milwaukee Fire Department couldn’t confirm if the people inside at the time of the fire were supposed to be living there.
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"It appears vacant based on the board-ups. It was boarded up. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t people in there and that is exactly what we found today," said Firnrohr.
The Milwaukee Fire Department has put a placard next to the front door, reading the home is no longer livable.
It's trying to figure out how this fire began.