MILWAUKEE — At least four people are dead and four others are injured after a fire broke out at a multistory apartment building in Milwaukee on May 11, authorities said.

First responders arrived at the four-story building, located in the western part of the city, at around 7:45 a.m. local time, according to Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski. In total, about 22 fire engines and eight ladder trucks responded to the fire, including units from Wauwatosa and West Allis in Milwaukee County.

About 30 people were rescued by ladders or dragged out by firefighters, Lipski said. Urgent 911 calls reporting the five-alarm apartment fire also indicated that some people jumped from the second floor to escape the building.

Lipski said the fire appeared to start in a common area of the building, not an individual unit. It spread to multiple floors and apartments.

Four people died in the fire, but their identities have not been released, according to Lipski. Four others were in critical condition, though it was unclear how many people sustained minor injuries or what caused the fire.

Lipski said the injured were transported to local hospitals.

By 1 p.m., many emergency response units had left the scene, but Red Cross workers and police remained to talk to displaced residents and offer food and blankets. Lipski said the fire department is investigating the incident and requested that the state fire marshal visit the scene.

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At least four people are dead and four are in critical condition after a five-alarm apartment fire near North 27th Street and West Highland Boulevard.

Milwaukee apartment building was not required to have sprinklers

The fire chief noted that the 85-unit building, which was built in 1968, did not have sprinklers or standpipes installed. Buildings constructed before 1974 with certain sizes, shapes, dimensions, and occupancy were not required to have sprinklers, according to Lipski.

“You make absolutely no mistake: That dramatically impacts the survivability in this building once a fire starts,” Lipski said.

He later told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network, that the apartment building had sprinklers in a “small parking area in the first floor” but that there were no sprinklers in the residential area.

City records indicate the parking structure sprinklers led to a building code violation notice after an April 2024 inspection. Nine follow-up city inspections were conducted from May 2024 through March 2025, which Department of Neighborhood Services records said showed a failure to resolve the violation notice.

The department recorded the violation as abated after an April 22 inspection. The inspector’s notes said the five-year and annual inspections had been completed.

Representatives of the building’s owner and the Department of Neighborhood Services did not immediately respond to the Journal Sentinel’s requests for comment.

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Residents board a Milwaukee County bus outside the damaged apartment building after a fire on the morning of May 11.

Residents board a Milwaukee County bus outside the damaged apartment building after a fire on the morning of May 11.

Many displaced following apartment fire: ‘This is extremely difficult’

The building is “completely uninhabitable,” Lipski said, and the fire department is receiving assistance from the Red Cross to help the couple of hundred people who are now displaced.

In the early afternoon of May 11, the faint smell of smoke lingered around the two neighborhood blocks surrounding the apartment building, which police blocked off with caution tape. Displaced residents sat on grass and blankets, calling relatives and processing what happened hours earlier.

Red Cross staff on the scene handed out blankets, water, bags of chips, and sandwiches.

Across the street, Bethesda Church of God in Christ became a temporary refuge for residents, allowing people to use the bathroom for the first time since the morning and handing out water and snacks. The overwhelming feeling from residents, Pastor Hosea Bates said, is devastation.

“Some people don’t know if they’re going to be able to retrieve any of their things, and how they’re going to get through the next day,” Bates said.

The church’s doors will remain open if the Red Cross needs it, Bates said.

Along the sidewalks, residents piled into city buses. But many said they didn’t know where they were going, such as a hotel or shelter.

“This is extremely difficult. I don’t know where I’m going tonight. I don’t know where I’m going today,” said Pharoah Morris, who moved into the building in February.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee apartment fire: At least 4 dead after building blaze

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