5th person dies from blaze that forced residents to jump from Milwaukee apartment building windows

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A fifth person has died following an intense fire that engulfed a four-story apartment building in Milwaukee on Mother’s Day.

Details about the victim were not immediately released Monday by the Milwaukee Fire Department. Further details about the blaze also were not released.

The fire was reported about 8 a.m. Sunday at the 85-unit building. Officials said some residents were forced to jump to escape the flames and smoke.

Ladder trucks were used to rescue other residents from windows while some firefighters inside the burning building crawled on hands and knees to get people out, Fire Chief Aaron Lipski said Sunday. In all, about 30 people were rescued.

Four people died Sunday. The fifth fatality was among four others who were critically injured. Several other residents were treated for lesser injuries.

This image taken from video provided by WISN shows firefighters working at the site of an apartment building fire in Milwaukee, Wis., Sunday, May 11, 2025. (WISN via AP)

An estimated 200 people were displaced by the fire which left the building uninhabitable. The building was built in 1968 and did not have a sprinkler system, predating a law that would have required one, Lipski said.

Lipski said the fire began in a common area and spread to multiple floors. Authorities have not said how the fire might have started.