Fire damages historic Lake House Inn; 2 firefighters electrocuted

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 Lake House Inn 

MILTON, Wis. - A fast-moving fire heavily damaged the historic Lake House Inn complex in the Town of Milton on Sunday night, Jan. 4, and electrocuted two firefighters as crews battled wind-driven flames that caused parts of the building to collapse.

What we know:

Lakeside Fire-Rescue and the Rock County Sheriff’s Office were alerted just before 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 4, after multiple callers reported smoke, then flames, coming from the apartment above the Lake House Inn in the Maple Beach subdivision. Callers later reported fire visible from the back of the restaurant and through the roof above the kitchen area.

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Fire crews arrived within 12 minutes of the initial 911 call and found fire rapidly spreading through the kitchen and restaurant areas toward the historic three-story bar and former hotel portions of the structure. Despite multiple hose lines deployed from both the front and rear of the building, officials said the wind-driven fire overwhelmed containment efforts.

 Lake House Inn 

Lakeside Fire-Rescue said two firefighter-paramedics suffered minor electrical shock injuries early in the response after contacting an exterior air conditioning unit that had become energized. Both were treated on scene and later returned to duty.

Dig deeper:

Around 9:22 p.m., the roof and second floor above the kitchen and restaurant collapsed into the first floor. Fire continued to spread into the historic bar and hotel sections before crews brought the blaze under control at approximately 11:04 p.m. Firefighters remained on scene into the early morning hours extinguishing hot spots, and a crew stayed overnight for monitoring.

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The owner told fire officials the restaurant had been open earlier in the day for a Green Bay Packers game and that he was the last person to leave around 6 p.m. Investigators believe the fire originated in the kitchen area, though the cause remains under investigation with assistance from the Wisconsin State Fire Marshals' Office.

The backstory:

The original structure dates back to the mid-1850s and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Due to its age, the building was not equipped with automatic fire sprinklers, officials said.