Milwaukee's Lincoln Avenue School severely damaged in overnight fire, impact on students not yet known
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A five-alarm fire broke out just after 3 a.m. Tuesday, June 30, at Lincoln Avenue School, causing extensive damage.
Milwaukee Fire Department Chief Aaron Lipski said it could have been worse as the school did not have any sprinklers in the building.
The initial calls came in just after 3 a.m. on Tuesday morning, June 30, and was soon upgraded to a five-alarm fire. CBS 58 crews at the scene saw visible flames burning on the top floor of the three-story building.
A large perimeter was established around the school as crews worked to keep the fire contained. People who live nearby described the flames as "terrible." Margaret Burns' home is right in the school's backyard, so close she could smell the fire from inside.
"I'm just really upset because the kids in this neighborhood, there’s a nice playground over there and it’s upsetting that, you know, now what are they gonna do? They’re gonna fix that by August to get the kids back in the school. It’s very upsetting to me, to be honest with you guys, to see something like this," Burns said.
Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) officials say they still need to assess the damage to see if the school should be demolished or repaired.
One thing that could have helped limit the extensive damage is fire sprinklers.
But the Lincoln Ave. Elementary building did not have fire sprinklers because it was built decades before the state required them.
Retired West Allis assistant fire chief Martin King has seen fire sprinklers save lives. He now works with the National Fire Sprinkler Association and told us, "It's like having a firefighter within your building."
In 1974, a new state law required new buildings of a certain height to have sprinkler systems. But there is no requirement to retrofit older buildings.
Sprinklers are triggered by heat. When activated, they dump 15 gallons of water or more per minute. King says that suppresses a fire enough for the fire department to get on site.
Additionally, sprinkler systems can help with fire investigations, as well.
King said, "A sprinkler system, if they looked at it, could probably tell them what riser went off and a possible location."
But there is a simple reason why MPS cannot retrofit its buildings.
"It's a question of our ability to fund them," said Michael Turza, the interim chief operating officer at MPS. "To put a sprinkler system would be multi-million dollars per building."
Online estimates put the cost between $2 and $7 per square-foot.
An MPS administrator says most of the district's buildings do not have sprinklers. He estimated about 90%.
Turza said, "It's part of our overall deferred maintenance plan. Whenever we feel we need to do it, it goes into the discussion. And if it goes to the top, it goes to the top. Sometimes things more important might be a roof that a building needs to have, rather than a sprinkler system. We have to make choices."
Some neighbors told CBS 58 they heard fireworks going off overnight. As crews battled the fire for hours, they were worried about the dry conditions and embers flying so close to their homes.
The Milwaukee Fire Department has not determined the cause of the fire.
Although no one was hurt, some students were still affected, as that is where a Community Learning Center is currently held. Now, the center is being temporarily relocated to the Hayes Bilingual School. Officials said aside from the location, nothing else about the program is changing.
CBS 58 spoke with a mother picking up her children from the center, who said she hopes there are answers soon.
“It was fine that they did it, you know, I mean they can’t go to the school at all,” said Bianca Sosa. “It’s just sad to hear about the school. I’m an MPS student alumnus myself. I just hope that everything goes well with Lincoln and they can figure out what happened.”
As the Milwaukee Fire Department continues the investigation, MPS said the center will remain at Hayes through July 31.
PHOTO GALLERY
Our Frankie Jupiter at the scene learned MFD crews approached the fire defensively, and that there are no known injuries.
We Energies issued a Tuesday morning statement, addressing power outages in the area:
We Energies electric crews de-energized power equipment near the fire for safety reasons. 128 customers are currently out of power because of that. Once it is safe for our crews to get close to the scene, we will inspect the equipment and restore power.
The Milwaukee Brewers made a recent appearance at the school on May 13, as part of their MKE Kindness Initiative, surprising students to end the 2025-26 school year at Lincoln.