A man died and multiple families were displaced in a multi-unit house fire in Milwaukee's Walnut Hill neighborhood
A man died and multiple families were displaced in a multi-unit house fire early Saturday morning in Milwaukee's Walnut Hill neighborhood, according to fire officials and the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office.
Firefighters were called a little after 3:30 a.m. to a two-and-a-half-story house at 1728 N. 32nd St. for reports of smoke in the house, said Milwaukee Fire Deputy Chief Will Kowalski.
While searching the building, firefighters found a man still inside and removed him, Kowalski said. The 81-year-old man was pronounced dead about 4:30 a.m. on scene, according to the deputy chief and the medical examiner's office.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, Kowalski said.
The man's death is being investigated as an accident, said Karen Domagalski, Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office operations manager. His cause of death will be determined following an autopsy on Monday, she said.
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There were no other injuries reported, and everyone else in the home escaped safely, Kowalski said.
Multiple families who lived in the four-unit home were displaced and have been offered help from the Red Cross, said Justin Kern, a spokesman for the American Red Cross of Wisconsin.
They include a family of three and a family of six who lived in two of the four units, Kern said.
Aung Aye, 28, who along with his wife and child are among those displaced, was outside the house Saturday morning loading what belongings he could into a car.
Aye said they are lucky to be alive. His wife and child were asleep when the fire started, he said. He doesn't know what would have happened had he not been awake at the time.
"We might be in trouble," he said.
He said he realized something was wrong when he heard a fire alarm. Then he smelled smoke and rushed to get his family out of the house. He said he saw the smoke coming from a rear window on the second floor.
Firefighters had the fire under control a little after 4 a.m., Kowalski said.
The fire remains under investigation.
Fires tend to occur more frequently during the colder, winter months. In November alone, the Red Cross of Wisconsin helped 326 people affected by 68 home fires, a 45% increase in home fires from the prior month, Kern said.
For the city of Milwaukee alone, the Red Cross has helped 1,690 people who were displaced by 258 home fires since Jan. 1, Kern said. Those figures do not include fires where the Red Cross' help was not needed, he added.
Sarah Volpenhein is a Report for America corps reporter who focuses on news of value to underserved communities for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Email her at svolpenhei@gannett.com. Please consider supporting journalism that informs our democracy with a tax-deductible gift to this reporting effort at JSOnline.com/RFA.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee man dead, families displaced in multi-unit house fire
