A Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) spokesman said officers arrested a 22-year-old woman, who was seen carrying "burning material," causing a vacant building near N. 32nd St. and W. Hampton Ave. to catch fire around 6 p.m. Wednesday.

32nd and Hampton fire CBS 58

The fire caused such extensive damage, the city issued an emergency raze order Thursday, hiring two contractors two begin demolition that afternoon.

"I feel good about it because my kids live here, and you got that building over there," neighbor Gabrielle Alexander said. "I don't know what to say about it. My kids live here and we pay rent to be here."

Alexander lives in an apartment complex next to the vacant building, which is owned by the Holy Redeemer Institutional Church of God in Christ.

Alexander said she was working late Wednesday night while her sister watched her two kids. When Alexander got home after midnight, she found the streets were blocked off around the complex.

"I ended up seeing chaos. I don't get off until 12:30, so I ended up seeing chaos," Alexander said. "The firefighters was everywhere. They had everything blocked up. We just had to go around, but it's an inconvenience."

32nd and Hampton fire La'Shai

Valerie Daniels-Carter, the church's senior executive pastor, issued a statement Thursday morning.

A church spokesman said Daniels-Carter was unavailable for an interview, but confirmed the church owned multiple properties in the area as it hoped to one day launch a large redevelopment project.

"The building carried both historical and sentimental significance within the continuing narrative of our ministry and community development efforts," Daniels-Carter said in a statement. "We remain in close collaboration with the Milwaukee Fire Department and are deeply grateful for the swift and courageous response of all first responders."

A review of city records showed the Department of Neighborhood Services (DNS) had issued a raze order more than a year ago.

The December 2024 order noted, "the building is dangerous, unsafe, unsanitary, unfit for human habitation and unreasonable to repair."

The DNS order called for the church to secure the building, then raze and remove it.

DNS spokesman Jeremy McGovern said Thursday the city had granted an extension of that order, adding it was clear the church was still not in compliance at the time of Wednesday's fire.

Alexander and two other neighbors who declined to be interviewed all told CBS 58 they have seen people coming in and out of the vacant building in the past.

32nd and Hampton fire CBS 58

Multiple neighbors said they've seen previously seen people starting fires in there.

"I've seen it. It's homelessness. They're gonna get in there," Alexander said. "But that's not the first-time fire's been in that building."

Hampton Avenue was closed between 31st and 33rd streets Thursday.

Alderwoman Andrea Pratt said in a release the closure will remain in place until crews finish the demolition and debris removal process.

Pratt said that process could take as long as 15 days to complete.