April 12--WEST ALLIS -- Three children were killed in the house fire at the 7700 block of W. Hicks St, officials said Friday.
The children killed in the Thursday blaze were a 5-year-old girl and 4-year-old twin brothers, West Allis Mayor Dan Devine said.
Acting Police Chief Charles Padgett said the mother of the children is in custody and is cooperating with authorities.
The investigation is ongoing, he said. The remains of the three victims are with the Milwaukee County medical examiner's office.
"We are in contact with the mother of the three children," he said. "She is with us in our custody and is cooperating with our investigators to determine exactly what happened here."
Authorities did not release the names of the victims or their mother.
No adults were in the house when police arrived on the scene, Padgett said.
The fire was called in at 5:19 p.m. Thursday and the first units saw heavy smoke, Interim Fire Chief Gary Streicher said.
The victims were discovered in a second floor bedroom.
"The City of West Allis is mourning this loss of life, and the mourning is intensified by the fact they were children," Devine said.
Streicher said firefighters "made an aggressive interior attack" when they arrived at the home.
Firefighters discovered a large hole on the second floor, Streicher said.
"The hole was at the bedroom entrance, which hampered our rescue efforts," Streicher said. "That room is where the victims were eventually found. This was a tough fire to fight. The fire had gotten to the walls, into the attic. We were chasing the fire throughout the building."
Officials with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the state Department of Justice arrived on the scene Friday morning.
Neighbors said four children lived in the residence. They said they believed the fourth child, an infant, was not in the house at the time of the fire.
Neighbors said the woman renting the residence arrived in the neighborhood about 7:30 p.m., about two hours after the fire was first called in.
A neighbor said the fire turned the neighborhood into pure smoke.
"It was all smoke. It was like night," Jeff Dagenhardt said.
Another neighbor, Debbie Dropp, said the family had lived in the home about a year. She said the mother was seen running on the street toward the home.
Friday morning, police towed away a minivan believed to belong to the woman. At the scene, toy trucks and a stuffed animal were on the home's wet front lawn.
The home is owned by Todd Brunner, a Pewaukee man whose financial empire collapsed under the weight of $20 million debt in 2011 when he filed for bankruptcy. Records say he bought the property in 2003 for $50,507. It is assessed at $91,900.
Brunner listed the value of the property at $97,700 on bankruptcy papers he filed in federal court in 2011. It was one of about 200 properties that he owned at the time. The bankruptcy papers indicate there was no loan on the property. This is the second fire at a Brunner home in the past year. A two alarm fire caused about $150,000 damage to a Brunner owned rental property in Brookfield last year. An investigation determined the fire was accidental.
Brunner quietly built a real estate empire in the late 1990s largely by buying foreclosed properties throughout southeastern Wisconsin and either renting them or selling properties. The strategy paid well and he lived a lavish lifestyle that included a large home near Pewaukee Lake and a fleet of fancy cars and boats, including a Bentley, a Porsche and a Rolls-Royce.
Brunner's real estate empire came crashing down under about $20 million in debt, forcing Brunner into bankruptcy. The bankruptcy was dismissed by Judge James Shapiro, who questioned whether Brunner had misled the court. As a result, Brunner kept ownership of properties and other assets but remained responsible for his debts.
Some of his assets -- including several cars and boats -- were sold at auction by creditors. Attempts to sell many of his properties at the auction, however, failed because bidders were not interested in purchasing the real estate.
Brunner's Pewaukee home was raided by the FBI last year and he remains under investigation on suspicions of bank, mail and bankruptcy fraud, according to sources and court documents.
The fire comes less than a month after two children died in another West Allis fire.
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