8 families displaced following West Allis apartment fire

WEST ALLIS, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Wednesday, June 21, eight families are without a home after an early morning apartment fire in West Allis.

The fire broke out just after 7 a.m. on Maple Street near 84th and National.

"Soon as we got outside, I saw that the fire was pouring out of one of the apartments, just billowing out, her entire apartment is completely gone," said Carlos Sanchez.

Wednesday morning, the smell of smoke and a neighbor's alarming knock woke up Sanchez as smoke filled his West Allis apartment.

"All I saw was smoke pouring into my house, and the first thing I had to do was get my daughter out," said Sanchez.

Video captured by Sky Drone 58 shows the intense smoke taking over this three-story building.

"We just woke up and the house was full of smoke. I ran into the living room to see where it was coming from, and her whole room was just engulfed, there is no saving any of her stuff," said Kaitie Williams.

Williams said the fire started in her daughter's bedroom.

Tuesday night, as luck would have it, her daughter wanted to sleep in mom's room.

"Something told me to put her in my room, and so I did," said Williams.

The building is managed by Smart Asset Realty, based out of Waukesha.

The property management company did not want to speak on camera about the fire.

Smart Asset Management released the following statement Wednesday:

"Smart Asset Management is deeply saddened about the fire that occurred at 8828 Maple St, West Allis in the early morning hours today.
As the 3rd party management company, we are diligently working to address all issues relating to the fire as they come in to us.

When we first learned of the fire, we immediately notified the owner. At approx. 9am we began contacting all tenants in the building to make sure everyone was okay and assure them we are working on a response plan. We had a property restoration company and public adjuster dispatched to the building as soon as they could get there. They took possession of the building from West Allis Fire Department at appox. 12:15pm today. At that time, they began immediately addressing safety issues and are working to secure the building. We also had a representative from our company at the building to assist in any way he could.

We are actively assisting current tenants and trying to secure them new housing within our company’s available apartments as soon as possible. We understand this is a very tough time and if they choose to find housing that is not managed by our company, we want to make it as seamless as possible. We have already put into place a system that allows us to process their security deposits and we will also refund any prorated rent already paid for the remaining days in June. This will be available to tenants today to assist them in finding housing as soon as possible.

We have fully cooperated with the West Allis Fire Department and will continue to, as well as any other agencies that would be investigating this.

At this time, the cause of the fire is unknown and we will look to the fire department going forward as to the answer on what caused this unfortunate event.

On behalf of the owner of the building and Smart Asset Management, we are very grateful that everyone in the building is okay and was able to make it out safely.

Our hearts go out to all that were affected today."

CBS 58 has a crew at the scene. Stick with CBS 58 on air and online for updates.