Overview
- Fire broke out around 6:30 a.m. Saturday in a two-story, 20‑unit building near South Howell and West Layton across from Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport.
- About 70 responders from Milwaukee and nearby departments contained the two‑alarm blaze after finding fire in a rear first‑floor unit.
- Crews located one person deceased in place, rescued two injured occupants, and helped other residents who escaped through windows.
- Chief Aaron Lipski said the building had no sprinkler system and linked the death to that absence, noting this is Milwaukee’s sixth confirmed fire fatality this year in unsprinklered residences.
- The cause remains under investigation and is not believed suspicious, while the Red Cross shelters displaced residents and the gutted building will allow returns after cleanup; bills in Madison would enable local fire‑safety ordinances and provide grants for sprinkler retrofits.