MILWAUKEE — When a fire alarm goes off, most people think to immediately get out. However, some residents in Sunday's high-rise apartment fire in Milwaukee said they were told to stay put.
"It's very common specifically in a high-rise firefighting environment to not evacuate an entire building,” Milwaukee Fire Department (MFD) Chief Aaron Lipski said.
It’s a strategy called shelter in place, in part meant to make it easier for firefighters to make their way through the building in an emergency.
"It can oftentimes create more havoc in that high-rise setting to just flood the stairwells with people,” Lipski explained. "Particularly people that are not super agile on the stairs perhaps."
However, Chief Lipski said the problem is citywide there’s no uniformity.
In Milwaukee, the Department of Neighborhood Services inspects commercial properties like Cambridge Senior Living Apartments annually.
DNS checks for compliance on things like fire extinguishers and detectors but the department doesn’t have a say on evacuation protocol and MFD’s role there is only advisory.
In a residential building, it’s up to management to decide. Some will evacuate the floor with the source of the fire and one floor above and below, others two floors, and so on.
Chief Lipski said the lack of uniformity is especially concerning for commercial high rises with multiple businesses, in that case, each tenant can decide for themselves what to do in an emergency.
"You end up with a jigsaw puzzle with people with different ideas on what an evacuation means,” Lipski said. “The problem with the whole scenario is the smoke doesn't know the difference."
The smoke is why at Sunday night’s fire some people took matters into their own hands and got out, while others had to wait for the fire department.
"I should've got up and went and left out but I didn't," Cambridge resident Vera Taylor said. "When I tried to get out that's when I smelled the smoke and the lady next door was trying to get out she couldn't."
Taylor said that after arriving on scene, first responders broke her out of her apartment. Chief Lipski confirmed during shelter-in-place protocol, firefighters will check on all residences and respond accordingly.
DNS’ spokesperson Jeremy McGovern said Cambridge Apartment’s last city inspection, checking for extinguishers and detectors, was Sept 13 and no violations were reported.
He also said the building's alarms were tested by a third party licensed by the state, as is protocol, on March 9.
MFD leaders believe fire detection, suppression, and prevention tools were all in working order Sunday night.
The fire started on the 10th floor at Cambridge Apartments. Three people were sent to the hospital, and one of the victims is listed in critical condition.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
