Mother’s Day apartment building fire kills 4, critically injures others in Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee apartment building fire that began in a common area and spread to multiple floors Sunday killed four people and critically injured four others.

Several more were treated for lesser injuries in the fire that began sometime before 8 a.m. on Mother’s Day.

The blaze rendered the 85-unit building uninhabitable, displacing an estimated 200 people, Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski said at a news conference.

Calls came in that people were trapped and jumping from the four-story building’s second floor to escape. The first firefighters to arrive were “far, far outmatched” by intense flames, Lipski said.

Platform fire trucks rescued people from windows while other firefighters went inside, some crawling on hands and knees to get people out, Lipski said.

In all, about 30 people were rescued. The cause was unclear but Lipski expressed confidence it would be figured out in time.

Built in 1968, the building predated a law that would have required it to have a sprinkler system and was never retrofitted with one, Lipski noted.

“Nobody was required to go back in and make that building fire safe,” Lipski said. “I have four fatalities here today. I’m not sure what people think is more expensive right now.”