MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — Two apartment buildings on the west side of Milwaukee along Michigan Street were boarded up Wednesday afternoon.

The buildings are located at 2319 W. Michigan St. and 2327 W. Michigan St.

Forty tenants were given just minutes to clear things out of their apartments before windows and doors started to get boarded up.

“I’m not really sure what happened. I just got a knock at the door saying the city is outside, we have 30 minutes to gather our things and get out because it's getting boarded up,” Milwaukee resident Zakira said.

The Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services had existing orders on both buildings.

An inspection Wednesday morning revealed life safety issues with the electrical and fire alarm systems.

“We’re talking about potential fires, and unfortunately, as painful as it is to displace people, we just can’t allow people to live in a situation like this,” DNS spokesperson Jeremy McGovern said.

Families that were living in the apartments did their best to grab what they could, but they only had so much time.

“We had enough time to gather a few of our items, but our mattresses and our bed, most of our clothes are still in,” Zakira said. “Can’t get back in at all. Actually have to find somewhere else to relocate to.”

McGovern says people cannot move back in until the owner of the buildings fixes the issues and that people have to get in touch with the company to get things out.

“It’s a very unfair situation because of neglect by the property owner,” McGovern said. “They can regain entry through the property owner through whatever mechanism they want to schedule that and retrieve the rest of their belongings.”

The buildings are owned by Smart Asset Realty, which did not answer questions from CBS 58 or residents about what happened.

“Now I probably have to go to a shelter, find somewhere else to live, move my things in, go through a whole new application process, rent, security deposit,” Zakira said.