Milwaukee house fire, 11th and Ring; 7 rescued from second floor

MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee home was damaged by fire early Tuesday morning, Oct. 8. Crews were called out to the area of 11th and Ring shortly after 4 a.m.

Brandon Hobson owns the home. While assessing the damage, he said he’s grateful his tenants got out.

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"The cops were here, the fire marshall, they were trying to get everything," Hobson said. "This stuff can be salvaged, repaired."

When firefighters arrived at the scene they found an exterior fire extending to the eaves of the attic at the rear of the structure. Seven people, two adults and five children, were trapped on the second floor. 

All occupants were removed from the structure and no injuries were reported.

Fire Chief Aaron Lipski said working fire alarms woke the family up. When they couldn’t get out of the house, they moved to a room and closed the door, which blocked the smoke and flames.

"It dramatically reduces the ability of that airflow for that smoke to migrate into that area," he said. "As smoke continues to build and gets denser and higher pressure, it wants to move into other spaces. That slows that down dramatically."

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It gave firefighters more time to rescue the seven people.

Lipski talked about the response and rescue at a Fire Prevention Week event. Firefighters went door-to-door on Tuesday to check and install smoke alarms in homes for free.

"That smoke alarm played a crucial part in raising that alert to everybody," Lipski said.

Hobson said he installed them.

"The damages are here, but we can come back from damage, but as long as everyone made it out safe, that’s all I was pretty worried about," he said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.