Feb. 24, 2026 6:45p
(WGTD)---Extenuating circumstances turned what could've been a small fire in Kenosha last week into a much larger one.
According to Kenosha Fire Department Fire Prevention Division Chief Jake Waldschmidt:
A babysitter was frying food in an apartment in the 5200 blk. of 43rd Ave. when residual grease on the stovetop ignited. The babysitter called 911 but then the call disconnected before the dispatcher was able to determine what had happened. Attempts to reconnect were unsuccessful. Police were dispatched for 'trouble unknown'. The babysitter called back, but a language barrier became an issue.
The first officers on the scene quickly determined that the fire department was needed.
By then, because the babysitter had exited the apartment into an interior hallway without closing the door, the fire had spread to a stairwell, causing heat and smoke damage to several other apartments.
Waldschmidt said firefighters used ladders to rescue four residents. Two people were taken to the hospital.
Because power had to be cut to the building, all 14 units were declared uninhabitable.
The apartment building where the fire occurred is directly across the street from an apartment where three children died on Thanksgiving night last year. The investigation into that fire is continuing.
Waldschmidt said damage in last week's fire could've been minimized if tenants had closed their doors before evacuating. "That buys you time," he said.
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