Residents jump from windows during Milwaukee apartment fire that kills 4

MILWAUKEE AP Residents jumped from the windows of a four-story apartment building in Milwaukee during a Mother s Day fire that killed four people critically injured four others and grew so intense that the blaze outmatched the first firefighters to arrive officials explained Ladder trucks were used to rescue other residents from windows while certain firefighters inside the burning building crawled on hands and knees to get people out Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski stated Sunday In all about people were rescued Personnel have not revealed how the fire might have started Lipski declared the building did not have a sprinkler system and was built in predating a law that would have required one according to the fire chief If we had sprinklers in the buidling we would have stopped the fire very very small We would not of had to have people jumping out of windows he explained Several other residents were treated for lesser injuries in the fire that began sometime before a m The blaze rendered the -unit building uninhabitable displacing an estimated people James Rubinstein a resident in the building commented he jumped to the ground floor There was so much smoke I climbed out the courtyard with my cat in my backpack Rubinstein described television station FOX Milwaukee Urgency operaters received calls that people were trapped and jumping to escape The first firefighters to arrive were far far outmatched by intense flames Lipski stated Government did not forthwith release the identities or ages of the casualties Lipski commented the fire began in a common area and spread to multiple floors Eddie Edwards another resident of the building revealed he also jumped to escape I wasn t thinking about nothing but getting away he communicated Milwaukee television station WISN Getting out and saving everyone s life It was a scary moment Source