9400 Block of 69th St in Kenosha
At 12:32 p.m. on Sunday, 9-1-1 dispatchers sent the Kenosha Fire Department to the 9400 Block of 69th St in Whitecaps for a structure fire. Eventually KFD personnel decided that the fire was out and they left the home.
Just before 4:30 a.m. yesterday morning, a 9-1-1 call was placed to the Kenosha Fire Department. That same home was on fire, again. The fire also damaged the house next to it and maybe one more.
9400 Block of 69th St in Kenosha
Within hours, the home was a complete loss. The City sent a transit bus to the home to keep the family warm and they evacuated the homes next door. They also kept warm in the bus. Eventually, the City made the choice to demolish the home.
9400 Block of 69th St in Kenosha
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Kenosha County Eye reached out to Fire Chief Dan Tilton and below is his summary of the incidents:
“Kenosha Fire Department crews as well as a crew from the Somers Fire department responded to this call. On initial arrival the first KFD crew’s (Med 1 and Truck 7) found heavy smoke conditions and entered the building to locate the seat of the fire and conduct a search. While conducting interior operations, Med 1 and Truck 7 reported heavy smoke and high heat on the interior. Med 1 reported that the fire was in the basement of the residence but due to the high heat entry into the basement down the stairwell was not possible. The crews also reported that the floors were beginning to feel soft on the first floor. Soon after this report from the interior, the exterior safety officer noted a change in smoke conditions and ordered the evacuation of all KFD crews from the building. KFD crews left the structure and shortly thereafter the first floor collapsed into the basement. Additionally the fire flashed over around this point. KFD crews went into defensive fire operations from this point forward due to the structural collapse.
KFD crews remained on scene in defensive operations with elevated streams and exterior hoselines. The collapsed floor created void spots making it difficult to extinguish the fire. Around 1730 hours the fire was deemed under control with no hotspots showing on thermal imaging. KFD crews began to clear the scene while the fire investigator remained on the scene investigating. A board up crew also arrived on scene to secure the home.
Around 2130 hrs Truck 7 was sent to the home to inspect for any signs of a rekindle. At that time there were no signs of smoke or fire. Later that evening around 0430 smoke and fire were present in the residence and KFD crews were dispatched. KFD crews now found a fully involved structure and began defensive operations and exposure protection. Radiant heat caused exterior damage on the 2 adjacent homes. To assist with reaching all areas of the fire, Public works crews arrived to start dismantling the home and opening voids. A car was able to be pulled from the garage with chains in order to save it from fire damage. Crews remained on scene until the fire was marked controlled.
Fortunately there were no injuries to the residents of the home or KFD, Kenosha public works crews as they fought this fire. The collapse of the floor could have been catastrophic for the interior crews and I am thankful they were able to evacuate the structure before the floor collapsed.
You asked about fires starting again after crews leave. I can assure you that KFD crews do everything possible to thoroughly extinguish fires prior to clearing the scene. However, A rekindle can occur after a fire appears to be extinguished due to unseen hotspots or embers which can remain to smolder. Eventually these hotspots can reignite if conditions are right. Rekindles are common for scenes with structural collapse. Void spots created in the structure make it difficult for water to penetrate and extinguish the fire. The decision was made not to use equipment to demolish the structure during the first call out. The conditions at the time led the on scene commander to believe the fire was extinguished. Fire scenes are dynamic and conditions can and do change. I commend the Firefighters on scene during this call who weathered extreme cold and difficult fire fighting conditions caused by the initial collapse.
Unfortunately, the home is a total loss. Our hearts go out to the family during this difficult time. There is a go fund me page posted on FB for the family if you would like to share and distribute it to others. The cause and origin of this fire are still under investigation.”
9400 Block of 69th St in Kenosha
“Kenosha. The Hamilton’s had a catastrophic house fire. We need immediate help to get basic needs met. Toiletries. Basic clothes. Food. Some people will say ‘they have insurance’. As a past fire victim I will tell you….you have IMMEDIATE needs which immediately surpass anything insurance may short term give & the rest will not come through for months, if years, said GunFundMe organizer Kristie Kruse. ” Imagine if you worked your entire life for something, to wake up one morning to owning nothing. Please help. All funds collected will go directly to the Hamilton’s. I am past teacher of the kids & friend of Leihla’s. I also am a past fire victim. We lost our home in 2011. Please help their immediate needs. The financial stress of losing everything is unimaginable,” she added.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/urgent-relief-for-hamiltons-fire-loss
9400 Block of 69th St in Kenosha
The GofundMe, at the time of this publication is at $21,720 of the $15,000 goal.
9400 Block of 69th St in Kenosha
67 Responses
Not a firefighter.
Yes. It truly needs to be investigated. Why was it not gone thru ? Where there’s smoke there’s fire. Were they trying to preserve undamaged items from water ?
I do know smoke damage pretty much renders anything a loss. Dry or wet.
How come a truck and two fire fighters didn’t stay on site ? Was it because the water would freeze up ?
Then leave two guys in a pickup truck to just watch for smoke and fire to then call in the troops if necessary.
Those two were free to go anywhere anytime if another call came in.
This needs a thorough investigation
Call the state fire marshal
It shows you are not a firefighter. Didn’t wait to hear a statement from those that know before you started talking out of your ass.
i guess you did not read the article. They did the best they could and like you said, you are NOT a firefighter and have no idea what these men go through.
Seems odd to demolish it so quickly, the cause needs to be investigated and demolition prevents it. Doesn’t make sense.
Probably because the structure is so unstable and is dangerous. I’ve seen this done before, in rural areas.
It’s called covering your tracks
Anyone giving a thumbs down is on the fire dept
And they have plenty of time to be on their phones. Gnome sayen ?
They have tons of time, sitting in the recliner scrolling the phone. Calls aren’t happening all 24 hours of their shift 🤦🏼♀️
Firefighters can save the basement many times, in this case they couldn’t even save the basement….. Good thing they had 50 employees staffing the fire for probably 16 hours over two separate days. They couldn’t even protect the neighbors houses. Stopping a structure fire is their main purpose, and protecting the neighboring properties. Imagine if the police went to an active shooter; and then left the shooter in the building to shoot it up more tomorrow. The fire department has every single piece of equipment, training, and technology it ever asks for and they still never can seem to save a building. They are endowed with the equipment and power to demolish and drown the whole structure with zero accountability. How hard is it to spray some water on heat/flames with your dozen vehicles on site that cost $700,000 each.
Boo Hoo !
Every time I watch a football game on TV where it’s super cold outside and I see those players with bare arms. I say to myself, for the millions they get paid, I would stand outside in the cold too.
Firefighters. It’s their job to do their job !!!!
They get paid WELL.
Bring in a warming bus. Change out hoses.
Do your Fucking JOBS !!!!!!
Wow. you eat with that mouth?
Have you seen how close the houses are in WhiteCaps? It’s a bit hard to protect those houses when their main focus is on the fire at hand, along with how windy it was, etc.
Maybe the neighbor was looking for an insurance payout and rekindled it themselves …
They were probably designing next months T-shirt when the fire was still going from the first day, sitting around basking in their great work…. Welp, whoops it’s still burning
a firefighter once slept with my wife, she still wears the t shirt he gave her
Kenosha Fire Dept. has lots to explain, few years back I watched a house fire during the day and fire personal could not match up fire hoses to connect to each other, if not for loss of property it was comical to watch! Sad they want and get equipment but they don’t know to use it.
Personnel
They can shine it up well though.
Didn’t this happen at the Coffee Pot last summer also? What’s goin on KFD?
Has everyone forgotten when the former Fire Chief refused to send equipment and personnel to put out the fires during the 2020 riots due to “safety” concerns and parts of Kenosha burned down? After absolutely refusing to do the job they’re paid for during the worst disaster the city has ever faced, can anyone be surprised now?
Listen. They just need a bigger raise, and better big screen game rooms in the stations…
The only job outside of mattress testing who gets paid to sleep.
They don’t have game rooms. And the televisions in the stations are paid for by them. Not the city.
So there are no ps5 or Xbox games in the stations? Not true. The point was stations with living and sleeping quarters are a waste of taxpayer dollars. Tens of millions of dollars. Go
To 3 8
Hour shifts, or two 12 hour shifts like the rest of America. no need for multimillion dollar extravagant stations. Set up some pole buildings like where the street department keeps their trucks, and the buses.
They work 2 days a week .
The safety concerns were because of the rioters. Not the fires.
Look the fire clowns need more equipment, additional pay, and the retirement age should be lowered to 45. And it was -8 out. the fire can wait until spring. WTF
They do any DEI hiring the last 4 years?
They definitely have.
100 %
Did they even send in the units normally found parked at grocery stores, getting the groceries for a 24 hr shift? I mean, not like they could plan ahead and buy the stuff on the off day prior. Glad the cops got 24/figured out. Come to think of it, even Kwik Trips can do it.
What an assinine comment. They are still on duty no matter where they are and they leave the groceries if they get a call.
It’s not that ludicrous of an idea (getting groceries BEFORE shift- and not wasting our fuel).
Ha ha ha. Your a joke
Thanks, you too 😉
Yeah but they are hero’s. Haha
All you loud mouths….i dont see your asses out there fighting fires! You ought to be ashamed of yourselves.
Ya ! C’mon , we firefighters work 2 days a week !
We work full-time.
It is concerning to remember that the exact same thing happened at the Coffee Pot. Fire Department came, cleared the building, fire was still active in the walls, and the fire department had to return…
How, please explain how, did this happen again?!?!?!??!?!.!? In someone’s house????
Read a book called fire behavior and then ask that question
and learn
Not a one of you clowns could make it through training.
Let alone written, background, or drug testing.
Most can make it through the training but not the drug testing FDs have lowered their training standards quite a bit, it’s not that hard anymore.
Who cares
None of us ? 😂😂😂🖕🖕🖕
Even the chubby DEI chicks ? Not one of them could drag a full sized man out of a burning building. Not one.
The only thing to question is if the decision not to demolish the home immediately was the right one.
Most homes built today and in recent decades use I-joists to support the floors.
I-joists are made of sheathing similar to what is used on walls and roofs with 1X2 lumber at the top and bottom.
They are strong and make for quiet floors and are the least expensive option for floor joists.
The problem is they are not fire friendly and floors will quickly start collapsing and the house is a total loss.
The State should have laws that require insurance companies to make an immediate initial payment and provide hotel rooms until the victim can transition to a temporary rental until they pay the final settlement.
No more laws. We have enough!
This thread shows just how gross the comments on this site have become. All of these little scaredy cat whiners thinking they can do a better job. What miserable people.
…. very little explanation on EXACTLY what happened ???
Obviously a couple fire personnel responded here but nothing on how this occurred or why MORE time wasn’t spent getting it all.
Or at least staying longer.
These comments are mostly about the house that burned instead of the neighbors that got damaged the second time around. Those are the ones that deserve REAL answers.
Now a days everyone is a hero. They get paid to be so called hero’s. Sheep
Small to medium sized cities, like Kenosha, have firefighters who sit around 90% of the time .
90% is a little off.They do grocery shop,make soup and clean the trucks.
Wow a lot of big talk techs in here talking bad about our firefighters. When actually they don’t have the slightest clue about how fire can react when buried behind walls or underneath rubble. So quit flapping your gums and thoughtless IQ’s unless you really know what you’re talking about. Just remember that the next time you drop on the floor or fire breaks out cause of your stupidity acts. These firefighters and paramedics put their lives on the line EVERY DAY they leave their wives and kids to rescue your sorry moronic asses. So get a serious life dip💩ts……don’t see your asses out there in 12 below weather with minus 25 wind chills helping out one bit!!!! LOSERS!
It’s likely firefighters and police suffer more injuries off the job due to side jobs or bad lifestyle choices like whoring around, drinking and obesity then injuries on the job.
Must be some stats someplace regarding time off due and worker comp costs.
That being said…..The house caught fire and unless someone with a garden hose and rake could have done better give the firefighters a break.
None of them leave their husbands? 🤪🤪
Actually, that’s not true. 3 firefighters have died in the past 100 years in Kenosha county. Two from heart attacks , because their fat asses got woken up.
Perhaps they can do better overall and use the TIC as it should be used LMAO
Calm down there fella
And this is what’s wrong with our society!!! There is no empathy for anyone and then they wonder why today’s youth are the way they are! It starts at home and obviously a lot of these comments are disgusting!!! Grow up people and act your age. A little compassion goes a long way!!
To all the people that making comments about the firefighter leaving the fire until all you people are willing to put on turnout gear and help someone people in community please just SHUT UP. I read all the comments and all the people making negative comments about things you know nothing about remember those firefighters have kids’ wife family who love them and would like them to come home every day. So, think about that We have one of the toughest jobs in the world and when you have the balls to join us you’re talking out your ass so again SHUT UP I proud of you brothers . I’m glad everyone went home safe.
LMAO
Stop with the hate ! Our Firefighters are among the best, and do their job to the fullest, they make decisions to save people, and prevent further harm, you naysayers should be ashamed of yourselves, Gid Bless our Fire fighters ❤️❤️
I think the best part of “service” from fire/rescue is the bill. I got a nice big bill when they put kitty litter down and cut my battery cable when I was hit by a distracted driver with no insurance. Also got a bill for me to tell the ambulance people I didn’t ask for them. They still wanted about $1400 for that. Weird , you’d think they’d take it out of my property taxes?
Double pay is right. We are stuck paying taxes for the services then we get a bill if we use them. Privatize fire services.
Fill that boot !!! 😂
That’s for the corrupt as hell MDA where only about 5-10% goes to actually muscular dystrophy patients. The rest goes to the IAFF.