MILWAUKEE -- A 2-alarm fire breaks out overnight on Milwaukee’s north side and now the home has collapsed and is a pile of rubble.
The home was located at the intersection of 24th Place and Auer Avenue.
Neighbors tell TODAY’S TMJ4 they heard two explosions coming from the house just before 4 a.m.
"It was like when I was in the military. It sounded like a bomb went off. It was real loud that's what woke me up, said Rell Tayrs, who lives next door.
"It shook the bed. It made me sit up straight in the air. I had to sit up in the bed and out of my right eye it looked like daylight outside," Tayrs said.
Firefighters said when they arrived the flames were at least 70 feet high. Ten minutes later, the house collapsed.
"We interviewed neighbors on all sides and they say the house is under new ownership and there is an individual doing renovations. They say when he's here at the home his van is in the driveway. That van was not here when we arrived," said Battalion Chief Dan Lipski.
Firefighters don't believe anyone was inside the home but neighbors say they heard a dog barking after the explosion.
"I know for a fact there was a dog in there and he didn't make it out of there. I could hear him in the process of calling 911," said Tayrs. "You could hear the dog in there barking."
Investigators say the duplex was shaken off of its foundation and the gas to the house was shut off before the fire started.
Fire crews are still at the scene looking for hot spots in the pile of debris.
This is a developing story, stay with TODAY’S TMJ4 for further updates.
