Early on Christmas Day, an apartment fire near 60th Street and Cold Spring Road in Greenfield caused serious property damage and displaced dozens.
The Milwaukee Fire Department was dispatched around 7:30 a.m., Robert Hartung, deputy chief of MFD told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He said he believed all 46 units in the apartment building on the Milwaukee-Greenfield border were evacuated.
According to a news release from the City of Milwaukee, there were no serious injuries but there were multiple ladder and interior rescues. The Red Cross is assisting residents with temporary housing.
Hartung said the alarms went off, but there was no sprinkler system in the building.
The building was constructed in 1967, before a 1973 building code mandated sprinklers in larger buildings.
Milwaukee Common Council fire-safety disclosure ordinance
The Milwaukee Common Council passed a fire-safety disclosure ordinance targeting landlord transparency in older buildings on Nov. 25.
While the ordinance wouldn’t apply to this Greenfield apartment complex, the ordinance requires landlords of residential buildings with three or more units to provide tenants with clear, standardized information about key fire-safety features about critical safety limitations in their homes, including the most recent fire inspection date and any applicable temporary occupancy permits.
Larger buildings and those operating under exemptions are required to have semi-annual safety inspections, according to the news release.
Alderman Peter Burgelis, author of the fire-safety disclosure ordinance, said this fire is a strong reminder of the importance of the ordinance.
“For too long, tenants have been in the dark about whether their home has essential protections like sprinklers,” he said in a released statement.“While today’s fire investigation continues, this incident reinforces why transparent fire-safety information and proactive building safety measures are more critical than ever. The city’s new ordinance took effect on December 16, 2025, ensuring landlords must comply with disclosure requirements moving forward,” he added.
Bill was recently introduced to improve fire safety in older residential buildings
State Sen. LaTonya Johnson is introducing a package of bills in the legislature to improve fire safety in older residential buildings after a fire killed five people and displaced another 100 tenants at Highland Court Apartments on Milwaukee’s west side in May. The building was built before 1974 and did not have sprinkler system.
The bills would give local governments the authority to set stricter fire safety rules, such as requiring landlords to retrofit older buildings with sprinklers. State law currently prohibits municipalities from mandating sprinklers. Milwaukee officials say that the law is too restrictive and is putting people at risk.
Nearly 70% of Milwaukee’s high-rise buildings were constructed before sprinklers were required by state law, city officials say and an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 Milwaukee residents live in buildings without sprinklers, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported in May.
Cathy Kozlowicz can be reached at 262-361-9132 or cathy.kozlowicz@jrn.com. Follow her on X at @kozlowicz_cathy.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Christmas morning fire at Greenfield apartment complex displaces dozens
Reporting by Cathy Kozlowicz, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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