Crime & Public Safety
Partial floor collapse discovered during early-morning Milwaukee building fire
A fire damaged a two-story mixed-use building in Milwaukee on Tuesday morning, with heavy smoke and a partial floor collapse complicating firefighters’ response. The Milwaukee Fire Department reports crews arrived to find smoke coming from a building near 38th Street and North Avenue at about 5:00 a.m.
On arrival, crews encountered intense smoke and located rubbish burning on the first floor, which firefighters quickly extinguished. While searching the first-floor commercial space, they discovered a hazardous partial floor collapse that the department says was not caused by the fire; heavy smoke made the collapse difficult to see and created a risk of falling into the basement during the search.
Firefighters conducted a full search of the structure and found no one inside. The department reported no injuries to residents or to responding personnel. Because of the damage, the building will not be habitable for the foreseeable future.
The Milwaukee Fire Department has stated the cause of the fire remains under investigation. The department’s account is the source of the documented details about the collapse, the suppression actions taken, the lack of injuries, and the building’s current unusable condition.
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