Firefighters battle massive fire at abandoned building near 32nd and Hampton
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- More than 115 fire crew members worked to get a massive fire under control at an abandoned building near 32nd and Hampton.
According to Fire Chief Lipski, the fire broke out around 6 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. Dark plumes of smoke were visible for miles.
Chief Lipski says that when crews arrived, the fire had already spread to multiple floors.
Firefighters fought the fire from a distance due to the unstable structure and collapsed portions of the building.
Lipski stated that the building was mostly wood, which caused the fire to spread easily and quickly. With embers starting fires in the grass and along the train tracks for several blocks.
He says that they are working on figuring out what caused the fire. There is no working gas or electricity in the building, believing that it came from an outside source.
“We are not ruling anything out, you know it does bare the question if there was nothing in there that was operating or running overheating sparking, there is nothing in there other than what a human would have introduced in that building so not ruling it out and very curious," said Chief Lipski.
Neighbors that live across the street say the heard the building collapse and couldn't believe what they were seeing.
“No, I ain’t never seen no fire this big right here not this a big one right here l, they had all the fire trucks, the probably had every fire truck in the city," Milwaukee resident, Michael Lamar said.
The fire is now under control and is under investigation.
