3 hospitalized, dozens displaced after fire breaks out in east side senior building
UPDATED: 3:19 p.m. on Nov. 13, 2023:
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) --Three seniors were sent to the hospital and dozens of others have been displaced after a fire broke out at the Cambridge Apartments building on Milwaukee's east side Sunday night.
Authorities said the incident took place around 8:46 p.m. Officials said the fire likely started on the 10th floor of the 14-story building.
Milwaukee police confirmed a 78-year-old and two 76-year-olds were sent to the hospital. A 76-year-old remains in critical condition.
"It was horrible, it was pitch black in my house for a minute," said William Santiago.
Santiago told CBS 58 News he saw the flames coming straight out of the unit right across from him.
"I thought I was going to die," he said. "Really, I really did (think) I would die; I was on the floor, I talked to somebody on 911 and they told me to lay on the floor in the bathroom, open up the window, wet a towel and just breathe through the towel."
Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski said crews had the fire contained within 40 minutes of having arrived.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Police initially deemed it undetermined, but they later said it was potentially caused by electrical issues.
Residents in at least 91 apartment units were displaced, according to officials.
"We have a lot of small cooking incidents, you know, because people sometimes, you know, are a little older and they're a little sleepy maybe," said Geralyn Juettner, the service coordinator at Cambridge Apartments.
Juettner said she rushed over last night from her other job as soon as she heard the news.
"(I) went over to the Walgreens parking lot and there was three Milwaukee County buses there and many of our residents were on those three buses, and so I just tried to help them as best I could," she said.
CBS 58 News has learned the American Red Cross in Wisconsin is helping with temporary housing at the Clinton Rose Senior Center, located at 3045 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.
Management at the building has allowed residents to come back and pick up essential items such as clothes, wallets or medications.
It is unclear when residents will be able to go back home.
The Red Cross urges those in need due to the fire to reach out for assistance at (800) RED-CROSS. Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Police Department continues its investigation into the fire.
PUBLISHED: 8:55 p.m. on Nov. 12, 2023:
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The Milwaukee Fire Department responded to a fire on the east side on Sunday, Nov. 12.
MFD responded to the fire around 8:30 p.m. The fire was near Cambridge and Oakland, and the building is listed as an apartment for seniors under the Housing Ministries of American Baptists in Wisconsin.
The fire was originally declared a one-alarm fire but was then moved to a two-alarm fire. This doubled the number of resources coming to the scene. They had responses from the North Shore Fire Department, the Wauwatosa Fire Department, and the West Allis Fire Department, along with the MFD.
According to the Milwaukee Police Department, a 76-year-old was conveyed to a hospital and is in critical condition.
