MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee firefighters battled 5-alarm fire at a U-Haul storage facility that broke out Wednesday evening, with cold and freezing temperatures adding to the challenges crews faced.
The Milwaukee Fire Department received reports of smoke in the area of 1st and Orchard in Walker's Point just after 6:30 p.m. When crews arrived, they found smoke and fire inside the storage facility.
"Initial companies arrived on scene, finding smoke and fire conditions in the U-Haul storage facility," said Assistant Chief Operations Schuyler Belott. "Our companies made an interior attack to try to find and locate the fire and do some quick primary searches of the building to ensure we didn't have anybody inside."
Watch: Fire engulfs U-Haul storage facility in Milwaukee
Firefighters worked inside the building for about 10 to 12 minutes before conditions became unsafe for the crew.
"The fire grew too rapidly for them. We called for a second alarm, pretty quickly, knowing that we had the size of the building, the volume of fire we had," Belott said. "Unfortunately, we had to retreat from the building and take a defensive position."
No injuries to civilians or firefighters were reported. Officials did not confirm whether anyone was inside the storage facility when the fire started. Crews conducted searches of adjacent buildings to make sure no one was trapped and to contain the fire's spread, Belott explained.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation. Fire investigators and Milwaukee Police Department personnel were on scene.
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