An unattended grease fire extended to the kitchen at a small apartment building caused $55,000 in damage early Monday afternoon.
The Waukesha Fire Department was dispatched to 1410 Cleveland Ave. from fire stations 1,2, 4 and 5. While nothing was showing on arrival, Battalion Chief Joe Vitale opened the door to the apartment building and was met with “thick, black smoke at which time a working fire was transmitted at 1:02 p.m.,” states a news release.
Three tenants in the building were able to self evacuate and no injuries were reported. The American Red Cross is assisting tenants in need, according to the news release.
The fire department quickly extinguished the fire to keep it from spreading throughout the apartment building. One apartment sustained moderate fire, smoke and water damage, while the rest of the building sustained minor to moderate smoke damage, according to the release.
The fire was the third fire in the area in the last 24 hours. A farmhouse on Big Bend Road in the Town of Waukesha received help from more than a half dozen Waukesha County fire departments as the home blazed for hours Sunday afternoon. Firefighters in the city also had a fire, quickly extinguishing a fire that started in a bedroom in a four-unit apartment building.
