Rude awakening: Family safely escapes house fire in Mukwonago

MUKWONAGO (WITI) -- Crews responded to the scene of a house fire early Monday morning, May 12th on Highway I in Mukwonago.

Emergency crews had been on scene since 12:45 a.m. but cleared shortly before 5:30 a.m.

According to officials, everyone was able to exit the home safely. A Lieutenant with the Mukwonago Fire Department says smoke detectors saved the lives of a mother and three others in the home. FOX6 talked with one of the woman's sons who was inside at the time. He said his girlfriend and younger brother were the others in the house.

"One of the sons was awoken by the smoke detector, found the fire, went and got everyone else up and out of the house before we arrive," said Lt. Dale Myszewski with the Mukwonago Fire Department.

Myszewski said 8 different fire departments were called to the scene, and Co. Highway I had to be shut down from NN to EE.

"We heard fire trucks in the distance and you expect them to just go by your house and all of a sudden stop right at the road. I looked over and there was one then another, a third truck came up," said neighbor Jim Tsimpidis.

"We’re a community that we’re tendered, and what that means is we use tanker trucks. We had a total of 8 fire departments here. While the fire was going; we had about 30 thousand gallons of water in trucks between the apparatus and the tenders. So we had no trouble getting water," explained Myszewski.

Officials said that the fire spread very quickly from the first floor of the home to the second. They said the speed at which it happened could be attributed to the fact the interior of the house was all paneled, or wood. Myszewski said the interior of the house was basically a complete loss.

Family members also said that their two pets, a dog and a chinchilla, survived the fire.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.