Milwaukee U-Haul fires, small business recovering
Business recovering after U-Haul fires
Two fires at a Milwaukee U-Haul facility destroyed much of a local small business' inventory, including most of what they had planned to sell at their annual overstock sale.
MILWAUKEE - Two fires at a Milwaukee U-Haul facility destroyed much of a local small business' inventory, including most of what they had planned to sell at their annual overstock sale.
U-Haul facility fires
The backstory:
The first fire happened in late January. The Milwaukee Fire Department called it a five-alarm situation that damaged much of the facility's Building H. Bandit MKE had one locker there, which was completely destroyed. The second fire was in early April, with Building D experiencing the most damage. That's where the majority of the shop's leftover inventory was.
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Small business recovering
Local perspective:
Bandit MKE is celebrating five years on Brady Street after a tough year. Owners Liz Kiesling and Michelle Eigenberger said they would already have had four to five overstock sales, which helps bring customers to their business.
"After January we were shell-shocked. It was a big loss, but we were working through the process to get to the point where we were ready to clean things we could salvage and make a go for it, plan our summer season, do all kinds of markets, go traveling," said Eigenberger. "Then in April, when that second fire hit, we were just flattened. I feel like we just couldn’t feel anything."
"We started in a weird time, and we’ve had some weird times since then, but we’re still going," said Kiesling "We’ve gotten so much support from the community, which has been great. People chipping in money when we really needed it before we were dealing with insurance and what was going to happen, people bringing items, just donating them to us, helping us get back on our feet with our inventory, but then just checking in."
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Kiesling is the sister of a FOX6 employee. FOX6 News has followed the shop's story, and many others, since the first fire in January.
Overstock sale
What you can do:
After the two fires, Friday will be Bandit MKE's first overstock sale in 2026. It runs from Friday to Sunday, open from noon to 6 p.m.
Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6's Andrew Amouzou and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.
Milwaukee U-Haul fire: Tenants, staff sift through belongings
People at a Milwaukee U-Haul facility were pushing carts and helping each other empty out storage units after the second fire in less than three months.
The Source: Information in this story was gathered from the Milwaukee Fire Department, Liz Kiesling, Michelle Eigenberger and FOX6 News.