Oct. 20, 2025 9:000p; Updated with county spokesperson comment
(WGTD)---A newborn baby girl was legally abandoned at the Racine Fire Department's Station #4 near Washington and Lathrop last week.
According to RFD Battalion Chief Bedros Ohanian, a crew was performing routine chores in the station house Thursday at mid-morning when the alarm that's hooked up to the station's 'baby box' sounded.
Somebody had taken advantage of the climate-controlled and ventilated compartment that's built into exterior wall of the station house and dropped off a newborn with its umbilical cord still attached, Ohanian confirmed. The infant was immediately transported to the hospital.
Activation of the alarm is slightly delayed in order to give the person who's dropping off a baby a chance to leave without being confronted. A vehicle was observed on video leaving the area around the time of the drop off, but no attempt was made to track down or identify the driver.
State law allows mothers to relinquish unharmed newborns within 72 hours of their birth by placing them in boxes that are installed outside of hospitals, police departments and fire stations. The law was signed by Gov. Evers in late 2023. It was the result of an incident in Whitewater a year earlier in which a dead baby was found in a garbage bag that had been left in a field. A 38-year-old woman confessed but a criminal proceeding against her was suspended after she was found to be incompetent to proceed.
The baby box outside of Station #4 is one of seven in the state. The list includes one in Elkhorn.
The placement of the Racine box was funded in 2024 with a $20,000 donation from the Knights of Columbus. It was placed in collaboration with a national organization that assists local groups.
A Racine County spokesperson said Tuesday she couldn't comment on the status of the baby, other than to say it's being cared for as prescribed in state statutes.
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