Four people are without a home on Milwaukee's North Side after a fire tore through the second floor of a house near North 28th Street and West Vienna Avenue Sunday night. All four residents had already made it outside by the time emergency crews arrived, and one person was evaluated for smoke inhalation.
According to FOX6 News Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Fire Department reported that all occupants had exited the home before firefighters arrived on scene. The fire, which broke out on the second floor of the residence, remains under investigation, the station reported. The American Red Cross was notified about all four displaced residents, per the outlet's report.
The intersection sits on Milwaukee's North Side, an area made up largely of single-family and duplex residential properties, according to city records.
A Familiar Pattern on Milwaukee's North Side
A Familiar Pattern on Milwaukee's North Side Sunday's fire adds to a string of residential blazes that have displaced North Side families this year. Just two months ago, an overnight fire near North 29th and West Chambers streets gutted three homes and left them uninhabitable, though no injuries were reported in that incident. In March, a fire that started in a vacant, boarded-up house on North 37th Street spread to two neighboring homes, displacing three to four residents and prompting Red Cross assistance.
The pattern has not been confined to the North Side. A predawn fire on Milwaukee's East Side near Newhall and Newport streets in May destroyed two closely packed homes and sent one resident to the hospital, while an August fire in Clarke Square displaced three families, including a resident who watched flames consume the attic.
Why Smoke Alarms Remain Central to Fire Safety
Why Smoke Alarms Remain Central to Fire Safety Smoke alarms remain central to fire safety in single-family and multifamily residential dwellings.
The Milwaukee Fire Department conducts smoke-alarm distribution and public fire-safety education across the city. The department's smoke-alarm outreach is part of its broader fire-safety education efforts.
Working smoke alarms are an important part of fire safety, and families displaced by fires may need emergency support.
Milwaukee's institutional focus on fire education includes the department's Survive Alive House, which provides children with fire-escape safety instruction.
The cause of Sunday's fire near 28th and Vienna has not yet been determined, and the investigation remains ongoing.
