A Milwaukee woman is grieving the loss of her sister and brother-in-law after a deadly apartment fire near 1st and Layton last week, while calling for stronger fire safety regulations in older buildings.
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Kayleen Blake, 74, died from smoke inhalation and burns suffered in the Saturday fire that also killed her husband, Paul Blake, 75. The couple lived in a 20-unit apartment building near the airport that did not have a sprinkler system.
"I'm pretty much by myself. And I relied on my sister for help, and now I got nobody," said Karre Kutsugeras, Kayleen's sister.
Watch: Sister mourns loss of sibling in deadly Milwaukee apartment fire, calls for stronger safety rules
Kutsugeras lost her only sister and brother-in-law in the blaze that destroyed their home. She described Kayleen as a Milwaukee native and South Division High School graduate who spent 50 years married to Paul. Kayleen worked for decades as a baker and deli clerk before retiring.
"She used to crochet, um, she likes to watch movies. She taught me how to crochet, and I got stuff sitting in the apartment that I can't get to," Kutsugeras said.
The fire forced Kutsugeras to evacuate without her prosthetic leg, requiring her to use a wheelchair to escape. She lost precious family photos and personal belongings in the blaze.
"She had smoke inhalation and some, and she had a heart attack inside Saint Mary's Burn Center when she was there," Kutsugeras said of her sister's final moments.
Family members remember Paul Blake as an Army veteran with a good sense of humor.
Fire Chief Aaron Lipski said the lack of sprinkler systems in older buildings can turn survivable fires into fatal ones.
"We get told all the time sprinklers are too expensive, and they are expensive, but human life does have a cost that I would just automatically place as higher than whatever that cost of a sprinkler is," Lipski said.
City leaders are pushing a new fire safety ordinance that would require landlords to inform tenants in writing whether buildings have sprinklers and fire alarms before lease signing.
Kutsugeras believes proper fire protection could have saved her family members.
"It would have stopped it in the bedroom. It wouldn't have got any further, and he would have been put out, because with the sprinklers and the fire extinguisher. We would have been able to put the fire out," she said.
As lawmakers debate new rules at City Hall, Kutsugeras hopes sharing Kayleen's story will save others and wants tenants to ask one simple question before moving in: Does this building have sprinklers?
A GoFundMe has been set up to help Karree find a new home.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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