Fire at apartments extinguished (from wauwatosanow.com)
NORTH SHORE MILWAUKEE -- A fire that apparently started in a storage area on the first floor of an apartment building at 4224 W. Hawthorne Trace Road extended into a second-floor storage area and the attic.

North Shore Fire Department Battalion Chief Steve Brennan said a second-floor apartment adjacent to the storage area also was damaged.

The Fire Department called a second alarm due to the size of the building.

Brennan said between 30 and 50 residents were evacuated in the incident, which was reported at 8:46 a.m.

Firefighters were on the scene until noon.

Brookfield, Cedarburg, Menomonee Falls, Mequon, St. Francis, Thiensville, West Allis and Wauwatosa provided mutual aid assistance with on-scene operations and coverage at other fire stations.

There were three minor nonfire-related injuries to apartment residents.

One firefighter was treated for an ankle injury at a local hospital and released.

Brennan said the cause of the fire is under investigation. A damage estimate is not yet available.

Arson suspected in Wells Street fire (from wauwatosanow.com)
WAUWATOSA -- Police and fire officials suspect a fire at 6127 West Wells St. on Saturday may have been set intentionally.

According to police:

The Wauwatosa Fire Department responded to a basement fire about 8:15 p.m. on Wells Street.

Fire officials observed a stream of an accelerant from below a window to the hot water heater, which possibly ignited the fire. It appeared as though the accelerant had been poured into the basement - evident by splash marks - by someone who knew the floor sloped to a drain near the hot water heater.

Police arrived and found two gas cans, which neither the current nor previous owner recognized, behind a shed in the backyard.

The house was sold Sept. 27. The previous owner had arrived about 8:15 p.m. to retrieve some of his belongings when he noticed the fire.

A damage estimate was not available.

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Fire hits Brown Deer apartments (from mybrowndeernow.com)

UPDATE: 4 injured in apartment fire

BROWN DEER -- A firefighter and three others were injured in a blaze this morning that forced the evacuation of a Brown Deer apartment complex.

The fire started in one or two basement storage lockers of a building at the River Place Apartments, 4241 W. Hawthorne Trace Road, and spread through two stories of apartments to the building's roof, said Steve Brennan, a battalion chief with the North Shore Fire Department.

Crews were called to the scene at 8:46 a.m., and the fire was declared under control about 30 minutes later.
Between 30 and 50 people were evacuated from the building. Firefighters had to help several who were trapped inside by the smoke, Brennan said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Eight departments, a total of 30 and 40 firefighters, either responded to the fire or covered for firefighters who were at the apartment complex, Brennan said.

A firefighter twisted his ankle while inside the apartment complex and might have broken it, he said. Three other people were injured