MILWAUKEE — A toddler and the child's mother were taken to the hospital for burns after a home caught fire at 5th and Madison in Milwaukee Wednesday morning.
A fire captain told TMJ4 News at the scene of the fire that a toddler and that child's mother were taken to the hospital and are being treated for burns.
In what felt like sub-zero temperatures, the Milwaukee Fire Department braved the cold around 9:30 a.m. to battle the blaze.
Elaine Santiago-Soto, who lives two doors down, says she woke up to the sound of sirens and firefighters breaking out their gear to take on the flames.
"I saw a person on a stretcher getting pulled away to the ambulance," said Santiago-Soto.
"That's very devastating," said Natalie Vargas, a secretary at Ministerios ALMAS.
Because of the cold weather, battling the fire did come with its fair share of challenges.
"What we find here is water and metal, which all of our pumps and the piping on the rigs have, doesn't mix real well when you have such frigid cold temperatures," said Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski.
"As the water is hitting everything, everything is just freezing right away," said Santiago-Soto.
"I am very proud of what happened here today, and their quick action, and that they saved the neighboring buildings despite all of the cold," said Chief Lipski.
It's unclear what the current conditions of both burn victims are at the moment. Fire officials say a third person was injured outside of the home and did not suffer any burns.
The cause of the fire is still unknown at this time and the investigation is ongoing.
A GoFundMe has been created for the mother and child who were injured.
