Milwaukee fire chief cites weekend apartment blaze while urging statewide retrofits for older buildings without sprinklers

Weekend rescue fire renews spotlight on older buildings’ sprinkler gap

Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski is again pressing for broader sprinkler requirements after a weekend apartment fire in the city that required multiple rescues and left some residents injured while escaping. The fire broke out around 5:30 a.m. Sunday in an apartment building in the 6600 block of North 77th Street near Green Tree Road. Eight people were rescued, including two infants, and two additional residents suffered broken legs after jumping to escape. Lipski said the building did not have sprinklers.

The weekend incident came as Lipski continued a public campaign to revisit state rules that largely exempt many older residential buildings from sprinkler mandates. He has argued that debates focused primarily on retrofit costs do not fully account for the consequences when a fire spreads unchecked in corridors and stairwells used for evacuation.

Wisconsin’s 1974 cutoff leaves many older structures exempt

Wisconsin law requires automatic sprinklers for certain buildings over 60 feet in height when construction began after July 3, 1974, while generally exempting buildings completed or begun before that date. As a result, many residential buildings constructed before 1974 can remain in service without sprinklers unless other triggers apply, such as certain major renovations or specific occupancy categories.

Lipski has said the city’s building stock includes large numbers of older, multi-family properties built before sprinkler requirements took effect, leaving a significant share of residents living in buildings without that layer of suppression.

Deadly 2025 Highland Court fire intensified the debate

The policy dispute escalated after a five-alarm fire on May 11, 2025, at the Highland Court apartments near North 27th Street and West Highland Boulevard. The four-story, 85-unit building—constructed in 1968—did not have sprinklers. Five people died, several others were critically injured, and the building was left uninhabitable, displacing roughly 200 residents.

In public briefings after that fire, Lipski linked the lack of sprinklers to faster fire growth and more dangerous conditions for residents and firefighters. City and county officials later identified the five victims as Verna Richard, Mark Chaffin, Maureen Green, Torrell Coleman and Shakwanda Tenise Harris.

Cost concerns and housing impacts remain central

Opponents of broad retrofits, including legislative leaders, have warned that adding requirements could raise operating costs for property owners and ultimately increase rents. They have also argued that sudden mandates could worsen housing pressures if buildings are forced offline during extensive upgrades.

On the local level, Milwaukee policymakers have discussed options that stop short of a blanket mandate, including increased tenant disclosure about whether sprinklers are present and exploring financial support mechanisms to reduce retrofit costs.

• Recent fires have underscored that hallway and stairwell conditions can quickly cut off exits without early suppression.
• Any statewide change would need to reconcile fire safety goals with retrofit feasibility and housing affordability impacts.

Milwaukee officials say the recurring pattern—older multi-family buildings without sprinklers experiencing fast-moving fires—continues to drive calls for updated standards.