Four Wis. Firefighters Injured Battling Fatal Blaze

OCONOMOWOC, Wis. -- One person was killed in a blaze that struck apartments and businesses in downtown Oconomowoc on Sunday afternoon.

Four firefighters were injured, including one from the City of Oconomowoc Fire Department who was transferred to Columbia St. Mary's Hospital in Milwaukee for treatment for smoke inhalation.

City of Oconomowoc Public Safety Director David Beguhn did not release the identity of the victim. Earlier Sunday, Beguhn said authorities believed two people were missing and presumed dead inside the apartments, but the number of fatalities was revised later.

A passer-by called 911 around 1 p.m. to report flames shooting up from the back of a building on Main St. that houses a real estate company on the ground floor and two apartments on the upper floor, Beguhn said.

A neighbor used a ladder to save one resident. At 6 p.m., three ladder trucks were still at the scene, and firefighters atop one of the ladder trucks continued to shoot a stream of water down on the smoking ruins.

"We're trying to keep the fire from spreading," said Beguhn, pointing to the buildings that make up Main St. and share a common wall.

The fire started in the middle of the block and fanned out on each side. A building with a wooden roof at the end of the block was built in 1871. Fire crews were attempting to save it by pouring water on the wall shared with another building.

"Two City of Oconomowoc firefighters who went into the building to help ran out of air. They had to be helped from the building. They suffered smoke inhalation," Beguhn said.

Two other firefighters -- from Dousman and Ashippun -- were treated at Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital for heat exhaustion and released. The Oconomowoc firefighter who was not taken to Columbia St. Mary's Hospital was treated at Oconomowoc Memorial and released.

Authorities were investigating the cause of the fire, which is believed to have started at the back of the building.

"Witnesses reported seeing flames from the outside. The stairway at the back of the building is scorched," Beguhn said. The state fire marshal was called to the scene. A damage estimate was not available.

More than 100 firefighters from several area departments responded to the scene.

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