Waukesha condo evacuation: Residents allowed to grab essentials
WAUKESHA, Wis. - Dozens of people are left without a home after a Waukesha condominium building was fully evacuated.
FOX6 News caught up with residents Saturday, Dec. 4 who were grabbing what they could from their homes. Officials fear the building is in danger of collapsing due to structural damage.
Boxes and emotional baggage poured out of the Horizon West Condominium Homes building Saturday.
"We’re sorry we have to leave it that way," said manager and resident Al Pulcifer.
"I think that we are all processing this in a different way, so there are different emotions coming from everybody," resident Alicia Halvensleben said.
The building is in imminent danger of collapsing from structural damage. Fire officials said it is due to a combination of factors – including damage from a 2019 wind storm.
Horizon West Condominium Homes in Waukesha
Sixty-five people are now without a home.
"It hasn’t all hit me yet," said Halvensleben. "I think, you know, obviously there’s sadness. When you don’t have your home anymore that’s sad."
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Some had just minutes to grab what they could when they were quickly evacuated Thursday night. Saturday, they were allowed to briefly return to grab important belongings in 10-minute intervals after the building was temporarily braced Friday.
"We’re letting them in momentarily to get their items such as medications, insurance papers, a few other items – maybe winter clothes," Pulcifer said.
Residents evacuate Horizon West Condominium Homes in Waukesha
"Trying to get people down from the seventh floor, and you know people are trying to wheel out what they can," said Halvensleben. "I saw people with big boxes of medication so, you know, getting those essentials out as quickly as possible."
A contractor told FOX6 nobody will live in the building ever again. While every resident has a different story, no one expected it to end this way.
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