Milwaukee fatal apartment fire; city leaders seek prevention options

Milwaukee fatal apartment fire; city leaders seek prevention options

Milwaukee city leaders are debating what to do to prevent fires in apartment buildings.

MILWAUKEE - Firefighters say sprinklers could have saved five lives in a fatal Mother's Day Milwaukee fire. So why are thousands of buildings in the city not required to have them? 

In the wake of a fatal fire

What we know:

On Wednesday, May 28, the Milwaukee Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee met to talk about sprinklers. The Highland Court apartments did not have them. 

Highland Court apartment fire, Milwaukee

Highland Court was built in 1968, making it exempt from the state law that later required sprinklers. 

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The Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services estimates 10,000 of the city's apartment-style buildings are not required to have sprinklers. 

What they're saying:

"I assure you we would not have had five fatalities probably would have had zero fatalities if we had functioning sprinklers," said Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski.

Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski

Wisconsin law prevents cities from having ordinances stricter than state law. That means Milwaukee cannot pass its own requirement for older buildings to go back and install sprinklers. 

On Wednesday, council members floated ideas like increasing safety inspections, looking for grant funding to help with sprinkler installation costs, and requiring landlords to disclose to tenants if the building does not have sprinklers before they sign a lease.

Highland Court apartment fire, Milwaukee

"If we can even take small steps in that direction it would it would be a benefit," Lipski said. 

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The case of the Highland Court fire remains under investigation.