PORTAGE (WKOW) -- A fire consumed a Portage apartment house Wednesday and closed Highway 16 as crews from multiple communities worked to extinguish the flames.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation alerted the public to the fire in a traffic notification sent Wednesday morning.
The initial call for the fire came in at 9:39 a.m., Columbia County dispatchers said. Portage firefighters said the blaze was originally reported as a porch fire that then spread to the remainder of the home. Wind contributed to the spread.
The people inside the home got themselves out, firefighters said.
"I was the first person to call 911," neighbor Ashley Gray tells 27 News. "I ran out and the families were trying to get situated. I said, 'You need to come out, you need to come out, you can't go back in,' " Gray says.
"They could not go in for anything," neighbor Lori Thurber says. "They were just out. They didn't have shoes on," she says.
Gray says those who escaped included a mother with an infant and a toddler.
Neighbors provided victims clothing, diapers, toys and supplies as they waited for help from loved ones and the Red Cross. Two dogs who also got out the burning building were cared for.
Gray says it seemed the fire spread in an instant.
"I'm shocked," Gray tells 27 News. "I'm also thankful, though - thankful that they're all safe. And the community really came together as a community."
Neighbors who spoke to 27 News say the victims told them someone discarding a cigarette that was not extinguished started the blaze. Portage Fire Chief Clayton Simonson says that possibility is being investigated as part of a comprehensive investigation of the fire's cause.
Building owner John Konopacki restored what had been an abandoned property into an apartment house seven years ago. He tells 27 News foam insulation behind the structure's vinyl siding helped fuel the fire's spread.
Crews closed east and westbound Highway 16 at West Carroll Street. DOT estimated the road remained closed for two hours.
Firefighters said they battled the blaze for just over an hour.
A picture from a local photographer showed the home completely engulfed in flames.
"It was just like a house of cards," Gray says. "That quick."
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Portage house destroyed by fire; children, other tenants escape - WKOW
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