On March 23. at around 5:49 a.m., Lakeside Fire-Rescue, working jointly with the Edgerton P.D., responded to multiple calls reporting smoke and fire coming from 503 Rollin Street in Edgerton.
EDGERTON, Wis. (WKOW) –On March 23. around 5:49 a.m., Lakeside Fire-Rescue, working jointly with Edgerton P.D., responded to multiple calls reporting smoke and fire coming from 503 Rollin Street in Edgerton.
The fire blocked the floor’s exit, preventing the tenants from escaping. With this information, Rock County 9-1-1 upgraded the incident, and additional fire and EMS units from Janesville and Stoughton were dispatched. Units from the Rock County Sheriff and Wisconsin State Patrol were also on the scene.
Shalena Clark and her three kids, along with her brother, his wife, and their four kids, were trapped on the second floor of the home. The children’s ages range from one to 12 years old.
“It was scary,” Clark said. “We were all sleeping when it happened, so we’re all pretty much still in a bit of shock.”
Clark is a single mom trying to make ends meet but doesn’t have renters insurance for the house.
“My head’s just all over the place, I’m just not in a good place right now,” she said.
Once on the scene, fire crews were divided into two teams: one working with law enforcement to rescue the tenants and another to get the fire under control. The rescue team deployed ladders and got all ten family members out of the house.
“It turned into a very high-risk, emotional kind of thing in our world,” said Lakeside Fire-Rescue Chief Randall Pickering.
He says that the fire was started by a discarded cigarette butt that continued blazing throughout the night. After catching enough air and heat, it then lit other items in the home on fire.
“I don’t think people realize just how long a cigarette butt can continue to smolder,” he said.
Pickering commends his fire crew’s rescue efforts. They took part in ladder rescue training on Friday, which was quickly put to the test.
Firefighter and paramedic Colton Butzine was on the scene Saturday morning, helping residents down the ladder from the second floor of the home.
“The emotions really hit when we rolled up, and we could hear the officers yelling at the occupants, saying ‘Don’t jump, don’t jump, you need to get over here. They’re going to jump.’ You could see an arm and a head sticking out of the window, and you know they’re in bad shape, and we needed to get them out,” Butzine said.
The Red Cross is actively helping find the family temporary housing while Rocket Realty and Property Management make repairs to the home, according to Lakeside Fire-Rescues’ press release.
Alice J. Roden started working for Trending Insurance News at the end of 2021. Alice grew up in Salt Lake City, UT. A writer with a vast insurance industry background Alice has help with several of the biggest insurance companies. Before joining Trending Insurance News, Alice briefly worked as a freelance journalist for several radio stations. She covers home, renters and other property insurance stories.