4 dead, hundreds displaced by Milwaukee apartment building fire
Four people are dead and four are critically injured after a fire broke out at a multistory apartment building in Milwaukee’s Concordia neighborhood on May 11
By Susannah Cullinane, CNN
(CNN) — Four people are dead and four are critically injured after a fire broke out at a multistory apartment building in Milwaukee’s Concordia neighborhood Sunday morning, CNN affiliates report.
The Milwaukee Fire Department said dozens of people were hurt after the fire broke out before 8 a.m., CNN affiliate WISN reported. Around 30 fire trucks responded to the five-alarm blaze.
Medics were seen performing CPR outside the building and some residents were carried to ambulances on stretchers, according to WISN.
Firefighters entered the building and used ladders to rescue 30 people, CNN affiliate WTMJ said.
Both affiliates quoted crews as saying the building did not have a working sprinkler system but did not require one, as it was built before 1974, WTMJ reported.
Residents described seeing people leaping out windows and off balconies to CNN affiliate WDJT. Hundreds of people are left displaced after the fire, it said. The Red Cross is assisting residents.
In 2021, the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services resumed enforcing a code requiring sprinkler systems in some multifamily dwellings. Since April that year, building plans for most dwellings with three or more units have needed to have automatic fire sprinkler systems installed.
WDJT quoted Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski as saying Sunday’s fire could have been prevented if sprinklers were also mandatory for buildings built before 1974.
“Nobody ​was ​required ​to ​go ​back ​and ​make ​that ​building ​fire ​safe. ​And ​you ​result ​with ​this ​today. ​We ​have ​fought ​this ​fight ​for ​many, ​many ​years ​across ​the ​United ​States. Of ​course, ​it ​would ​be ​an ​expensive ​proposition, ​but ​I ​have ​four ​fatalities ​here ​today. ​I’m ​not ​sure ​what ​people ​think ​is ​more ​expensive, ​right now,” WDJT quoted him as saying.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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