Hartland, Wisconsin, police and fire officials are investigating a fatal apartment complex fire early Friday morning that killed six people.
"This is a tragic incident for the community and for the first responders involved," the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Hartland Chief of Police Torin Misko telling reporters at a news conference Friday. "We ask that the community respect the privacy of the families and refrain from visiting or coming to the immediate area."
Misko said during the news conference that police, fire and rescue workers responded to the 5:11 a.m. report of a fire at a four-family apartment building on Mansfield Court in the small Milwaukee suburb, and immediately worked to evacuate people inside the burning structure and from its balconies, the news outlet reported.
According to the report, Misko said 15 fire departments and nine police agencies responded to the call.
As of 10 a.m., the news outlet reported half of the building was "completely burned," while the other half appeared "almost untouched" by the fire.
During a later news conference, Misko said there were six people found at dead at the complex and not seven, as some outlets had earlier reported.
Police did not release the identities or ages of the victims, according to the report.
The blaze is being investigated by Hartland Police, the State Crime Lab, the state's Fire Marshal's Office, the Division of Criminal Investigations, the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department, along with the Hartland Fire Department, and several other local police departments, the report said.
While saying the fire is under investigation, Misko did not confirm to the media if investigators believe the fire was set intentionally.
"Unfortunately, this is still a very active and dynamic investigation," Misko said in the report. "We're still learning a lot of information as we work through, and we will be back at a later time to update you."
Two families of four, and a couple, all living in separate units, were displaced by the fire and are being helped by the American Red Cross, the report said.
"Everybody's in shock," village trustee Ann Wallschlager told the paper. "For something like this to happen in our village, it's very heartbreaking."
She said the community will come together to help the victims.
"I was born and raised here," she said in the report. "This is a community that really sticks together and helps each other. I know there's probably a line of people waiting to help."
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