RACINE — One person is dead after flames ripped through a home, leaving it charred and almost unrecognizable. It happened near Coolidge Avenue and Gilson Street.
“The house seems to look worse and worse every time I look at it,” Justin Mendez said.
Mendez, a neighbor, saw the home go up in flames and tried to rescue the person inside.
“I guess my first instinct was just to go over and help,” he said.
Fire crews responded to the scene in the 2500 block of Coolidge Avenue at 4:20 Tuesday morning. One person and a dog were found dead inside the home.
“I’m very shaky, I’m really sad. I don’t know, I’m just heartbroken,” Dawn Stickland said.
“I guess my first instinct was just to go over and help.” — neighbor Justin Mendez
That sentiment was felt by everyone in the neighborhood as they watched flames take a life and destroy a home while melting the side of another house and bursting the windows of a car parked in the driveway.
The Racine Police and Fire departments are investigating the cause of the fire.
