HOWARD, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Residents in an estimated 12 apartment units are displaced after a large fire Tuesday at a complex in Howard.
Shortly after 6 p.m., the Howard Fire Department was dispatched to Northern Pines Apartments on Memorial Drive for a reported structure fire. Crews from Ashwaubenon, Green Bay and Suamico also responded. Flames were visible from the building’s second story and roof.
Dennis Staeven, fire chief for the Village of Howard, said residents were evacuating when fire departments arrived on scene and everyone has been accounted for. No injuries to apartment occupants or firefighters were sustained.
He estimated residents in 12 units were displaced by the blaze and the fire caused approximately $750,000 in damage. The Red Cross will be assisting those impacted.
“There’s heavy fire damage in the building that was involved. The whole second floor, all the second floor apartments caught fire. The building construction itself was credited for a lot of the ‘stop’ on it with the fire wall that was in place from the original construction. So that did help us in our efforts for containing the fire,” Staeven said.
Staeven said the cause of the fire is undetermined at this time but it is an isolated incident and the fire did not spread to surrounding buildings. The Brown County Fire Investigation Task Force will remain on scene for another six hours or so, Staeven said, and firefighters will continue to monitor for hotspots.
“It was a large fire upon arrival, but the community is safe, the fire is under control and just about out,” Staeven said.
“It was scary. I can’t even imagine what they had to have been going through,” added Cassandra Guerrero, who lives in an adjacent apartment building. “We’re just lucky it didn’t get further than it did.”
Comments