North Shore Fire Department crews battled a large milwaukee fire at 4848 N. Lydell Ave. in Glendale after a 911 call came in at 4:40 p.m. The building sits on the Milwaukee-Glendale border, and Milwaukee Fire Department received a simultaneous call at 4:41 p.m.
Robert Whittaker said both departments reached the scene within about four minutes, arriving at 4:45 and 4:46 p.m. He said the equivalent of a third alarm was dispatched, bringing about 12 engine companies, about 8 ladder companies, a heavy rescue unit, multiple paramedic units and multiple chief officers.
4848 N. Lydell Ave.
Firefighters found flames on the balcony on the second, third and fourth floors, with fire extending into the attic space. Whittaker said about 70 firefighters were at the scene, and crews brought the blaze under control in about 50 minutes.
A fourth-floor unit sustained fire damage, one upper-floor apartment suffered significant fire damage, and some damage occurred on the third floor. Whittaker said the fire did not spread beyond the affected apartments on that side of the building, and one firefighter was evaluated for a minor injury before returning to work.
Whittaker and Lipski
A building occupant asked for a paramedic evaluation for smoke inhalation but refused transport to the hospital. Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski said the fire appears to have started on one of the building's exterior porches, while Whittaker said crews believe it started on a balcony and have not yet determined the cause.
Whittaker said investigators do not believe the fire is suspicious and are treating it as accidental. He also said the sprinkler system did not activate because there was not enough heat in the hallways to trigger it, adding, “It didn't activate, but it acted as designed,” because the sprinklers are located in hallways and exit ways.
Building Sprinklers
Whittaker said the fire reached the attic quickly enough to require immediate action there. “Once fire gets in an attic, it runs quickly and extends. So you have to be quick about getting into that attic space and knocking that fire down,” he said.
He also explained why both cities’ dispatch centers received the emergency call: “911 calls are mostly cellular these days. They just bounce off the towers, and depending on what tower they bounce off depends what dispatch center they go to,” he said. That overlap sent both departments to the same building, where crews had to contain the fire before it spread farther through the upper floors.
