Christmas fire leaves woman with serious burns

Port Washington firefighters were awakened early Christmas day — not by children who wanted to see what Santa brought, but by a fire on the city’s west side.

A 56-year-old woman suffered burns during the fire and was taken by Saukville ambulance to Aurora Medical Center in Grafton, then transported by helicopter to St. Mary’s Burn Center in Milwaukee, Fire Chief Mark Mitchell said Tuesday.

The woman is believed to still be hospitalized, he said.

Firefighters were called to the fire at an apartment building at 140 Freeman Dr. after a second floor smoke detector went off, Mitchell said.

Police officers Dan Wolff, Eric Leet and Ryan Hurda arrived at the scene before firefighters and evacuated the building. 

“They must have seen the smoke and went inside right away to evacuate,” Mitchell said. “They did great work.”

Police couldn’t get into the apartment where the fire began because of the thick smoke, he said.

Assistant Fire Chief Steve Schmidt, the first firefighter on the scene, immediately called for additional alarms, given the time of day and the holiday, Mitchell said.

Firefighters were able to quickly get into the apartment where the fire began, Mitchell said, and they found a couch was on fire.

“It was a relatively small fire, but there was a lot of smoke,” he said.

Firefighters checked for the woman who lived in the apartment but didn’t find her in the bedrooms, Mitchell said. She was eventually located in the living room on the opposite side from the burning couch.

Lt. Jason Weis, engineer Brandon Gregozeski and firefighters Adam Lanser and Kurt Ellmauer rescued the woman from the apartment, Mitchell said, noting it was the first fire Ellmauer fought with the department. 

The fire was quickly extinguished, Mitchell said, estimating it took 400 to 500 gallons of water to complete the task. The fire is believed to have been caused by careless use of smoking materials, he said.

“It was a typical fire for the type caused by smoking materials,” he said.

Mitchell noted that the apartment building, which is owned by Jeff Mayer and Randy Buser, has fire alarms and sprinklers in the common areas. Individual apartments do not have sprinklers but do have smoke detectors that are hard-wired.

Aside from the unit where the fire began, Mitchell said, there was little damage to the building or the other apartments. 

“The smoke never became severe in the building itself,” he said.

The other residents were back in their apartments in about an hour, he added.

Aside from the woman in the apartment, no one was injured, Mitchell said.

Responding to the scene were the Saukville, Grafton, Belgium and Cedarburg Fire Departments, he said, while the Mequon ambulance and Fredonia Fire Department responded to the Port firehouse and covered for the department during the call.