MILWAUKEE — A resident jumped out of the windows of a Milwaukee four-storey apartment building during a Mother’s Day fire, when the flames got so intense that it surpassed the first firefighters to arrive, authorities said.
Milwaukee Fire Station’s Aaron Lipski on Sunday used a ladder truck to rescue other residents from windows to drive people out of the firefighters in the burning building raw their hands and knees. Overall, around 30 people were rescued.
Ladder firefighters will exit the window at the premises of an apartment building in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on May 11, 2025 to help people from the video. Wisn via AP
Authorities have not stated how the fire began.
Lipski said the building had no sprinkler system and was built in 1968 and preceded the law, which was required by the fire chief.
“If there were sprinklers in the buidling, the fire would have been very small. They would have had to hold someone jumping out of the window,” he said.
Several other residents were treated with lesser injuries in the fire that began before 8am.
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James Rubinstein, a resident of the building, said he jumped to the first floor.
“There was a lot of smoke. I climbed up the courtyard with my backpack and a cat,” Rubinstein told TV station Fox6 Milwaukee.
Emergency operators received a call saying people were trapped and jumping to escape. The first firefighters to arrive were described as “far, far away” by the fierce flames, Lipsky said.
Authorities did not immediately release the victim’s identity or age. Lipsky said the fires would begin in a common area and spread across multiple floors.
Eddie Edwards, another resident of the building, said he also tried to escape.
“I had no idea about anything other than to get away,” he told Within, a TV station in Milwaukee. “I’m going outside and saving everyone’s lives. It was a horrifying moment.”
