Red Cross assisting more than 100 people following Milwaukee apartment fire

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The American Red Cross of Wisconsin is helping more than 100 people get back on their feet after a large apartment fire in Milwaukee on Thursday, Jan. 28. 

Right after the fire, the Red Cross helped get residents into hotels and are providing them daily meals. 

"He was a good man. Everybody has their flaws but he was still a good man. That was our daddy," said the victim's daughter, Yolanda Harris.

The family of the victim, 72-year-old Nathaniel Beal was very emotional after finding out their father was killed in the fire near 29th and Mitchell. 

“We now have 105 people from that building who we are helping at separate hotels with temporary sheltering and daily meals,” American Red Cross of Wisconsin Communications Director Justin Kern said.

Kern says there have been three large apartment fires in Wisconsin in January alone, and that is unusually high. 

“Given the response of the fire, it’s really still in the response phase still just working just working with people on those immediate needs right now,” Kern said.

Kern says their job goes further than that. 

"One of the things in addition to the family this way a really tight-knit community that lived in this building and so our teams have been helping in terms of the kind of mental heath side of things, spiritual care side of things to kind of help process to what is really just a tragedy on top of just displacing a lot of people,” Kern said.

The Red Cross says they are still assessing the damage of the apartments and they don't have a timeline of when residents will be able to return to their homes.