72-year-old woman identified, husband widowed, firefighter injured in three-home blaze Sunday on Milwaukee's south side
Authorities have identified the 72-year-old woman who died after a fire started in a vacant house next door and spread to two more homes, injuring a firefighter in the process, authorities said.
The fire happened Sunday in the 2400 block of South Eighth Street on Milwaukee's south side.
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office identified the woman as Monica Lemke. The medical examiner's report released Monday said Lemke was living at 2471 S. Eighth St. with her husband, Norwood Lemke.
Norwood told the medical examiner's office that Monica, who had mobility issues, yelled down from upstairs that she smelled something burning prior to her dying in the fire. Norwood said he had no family members and that he will have to work with the American Red Cross for living arrangements. A Red Cross spokesperson said Tuesday that about 10 to 13 people were displaced from the fire.
It's unclear how the fire started in an abandoned home located next door at 2467 S. Eighth St. Fire officials said Monday that the cause of the fire is still under investigation. "There is a whole bunch of things that need to be looked into, not just the fire itself," Deputy Chief Travis Jones said.
Milwaukee firefighter suffered severe burns
Sunday's fire also injured a Milwaukee firefighter, who has not been identified by the department or its union. Fire Chief Lipski said that he suffered burns, some third-degree, to 23% of their body, mainly to his back.
Lipski held a media briefing Sunday morning in the lobby of Ascension Columbia St. Mary's Hospital, where the firefighter is being treated in its burn unit.
"We were probably 30 seconds away from talking about planning a firefighter funeral today," he said.
Lipski said the firefighter was trying to rescue Monica Lemke in the attic of a home when the floor "became 100% involved" in flames. Multiple mayday calls, including from the trapped firefighter, were issued beginning at 5:05 a.m. At 5:17 a.m., the firefighter was rescued through the home's front window.
Lipski said there are a lot of injuries in firefighting, but "it's been a very, very long time" since such a severe burn.
"This is a firefighter who is a fighter," Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said after talking with the firefighter's family and friends. "He's going to be pushing and prodding to get back to health and get back on the job, because he loved it so much. Because this work is service, it's public service."
Lipski said the fire took place near Station 31, which closed in 2018. Instead of driving across the street and up the block, the response time was five minutes.
"This is geometry and physics. No amount of buzzwords or fuzzy talk erases that reality. And it almost killed one of my firefighters today, and a civilian has been lost," he said.
Lipski thanked Johnson and state leaders for the shared revenue deal that is paving the way to reopening fire stations for the first time in his career.
Hope Karnopp of the Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Woman who died in house fire on Milwaukee's south side identified
