The Milwaukee Fire Department is investigating a fire near 1st and Concordia that neighbors say spread from one house to another.
Milwaukee Police are now investigating the case as an arson and are looking for suspects.
"My boyfriend saw the side windows and it was flaring," said Natali Gutierrez who lives in the home with her family. "So he thought what's going on? That's when he realized it was burning up. The side of the house was burning up again."
"I’m just in shock in general right now," said Natali. "I just don’t have any words to say. We’re just in complete shock. I’m just glad we all made it out.”
She said the most heartbreaking part of the situation is that they lost nearly everything.
"Everything we once built, me and my family, is gone now" Natali explained.
The family who owns the house next door to where the main source of the fire was said this is the second time this has happened. They said the last time the house next door caught on fire was about a year ago.
“I just found it funny how it just caught on fire out of nowhere because it’s been months of it being like that, all burnt up and there’s never been a fire and then out of nowhere today," said Christopher Esterada.
Christopher is Natali's boyfriend and the one who noticed the smell of smoke and saw the flames first around 3:00 Tuesday morning before he called for help. He was able to alert the family, and their dog and make sure they were able to escape.
"So the first time your house caught fire, was there any damage," asked TMJ4's Sydni Eure.
"There was no damage at all whatsoever," said Natali. "It was barely touching so there was no damage. Now the roof is completely burned off I guess on the other side."
The family said the house where the fire started is vacant, and that they're concerned with the lack of action from the city since the first fire.
“It’s ridiculous. The city should have just torn down the house in the first place," says Natali Gutierrez. "This wouldn’t have happened if the city just tore it down.”
"If there’s any fires and the city owns it, to take ownership and tear the houses down sooner or later because as you can see it can cause anybody’s fire you know," said Christopher.
Battalion Chief Brain McNulty confirmed there to be no injuries from the fire but said the family of four has been displaced.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
A spokesperson for Milwaukee's Department of Neighborhood Services said that the vacant building is on a list to be razed and that there was a fire at the same property in May 2023.
"We understand residents' concerns over the length of time to demolish this house. Some critical steps for demolition have been met, such as disconnecting the electric and asbestos abatement. The property is awaiting the gas line to be disconnected by We Energies before DPW could demolish the building," said Jeremy McGovern, certification and communications coordinator for DNS.
The city has asked We Energies to expedite the process of disconnecting the property's gas line so that it can move forward.
"Our gas was turned off, things like that, so how come one day you can come and do that but you cant do that for other situations that just doesn’t make sense," said Natali.
McGovern added that if there are concerns about people illegally occupying a vacant building, neighbors should call 911 or the Milwaukee Police Department's non-emergency line depending on the urgency. A contractor will re-secure the building once the people have been removed.
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