SHEBOYGAN FALLS, WI (WTAQ) – Police have revised reports that a 10-year-old died at Children’s Hospital in Wauwatosa Wednesday, in connection with a Sheboygan Falls house fire.
Benjamin Martin is alive, but in critical condition.
11-year-old Natalie Martin died at Children’s Hospital in Wauwatosa, and 7-year-old Carter Maki died at St. Nicholas Hospital in Sheboygan after injuries from a house fire Tuesday night.
Natalie alerted the other children to the fire at the home near 5th Street and Western Avenue. 9-year-old Jenna Martin was able to escape the home and met firefighters outside.
Natalie re-entered the home to try and find the other two siblings. Firefighters located all three children in an upstairs room.
Jenna, after escaping the fire, went to a neighbor’s house and called 911.
Officials are investigating the cause of the fire, and other conditions surrounding the incident.
According to Sheboygan Falls Public Safety Director Steven Riffel, parents Chris and Kristi Maki were not home at the time.
Family members have established a GoFundMe account to collect monetary donations.
In a statement released Wednesday, Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel offered sympathy and prayers to the families of both this fire and last week’s in Wauzeka.
“The death of five children all under the age of 15 in house fires in the past week in Wisconsin is heartbreaking. My sympathy and prayers go out to their families and to the communities of Wauzeka and Sheboygan Falls, where the loss of these young people is deeply felt. The Wisconsin Department of Justice Office of the State Fire Marshal is investigating both of these tragic incidents, and I commend our investigators, many of whom are parents themselves, for doing this important and difficult work.”
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(Additional reporting from Wheeler News Service)
