Home gone, family not forgotten

A blaze fought by a legion of firefighters from four counties that gutted a Town of Grafton home left a family reeling but not forgotten. 

On Monday, Susan LaGrange returned to what’s left of her house at 585 High Bluff Dr. to discover that somebody had set up a Christmas tree decorated with lights and ornaments in her yard.

“There has been an outpouring of generosity coming our way. It has really been amazing,” LaGrange said. “The people in our neighborhood have graciously helped us out by giving us cards and donations for clothes and other supplies. They have been tremendous during this tragic moment for our family.”

Officials said the fire started in a first-floor bedroom when a floor mat near a fireplace caught on fire.

“From our investigation, we found that the homeowner had a mat that started on fire in their bedroom. They tried to throw it out the patio door and left the patio door open. Then, the wind fueled that fire, which made it spread through the rest of the house,” Division Chief Matthew Karpinski said.

The Grafton Fire Department responded to the house, which is next to Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve, within seven minutes of receiving the call at 4:49 p.m. “When we received the call, we had a fair number of people in our station, so we had an immediate response with our first engine and two chiefs,” Grafton Fire Chief William Rice said. “When we arrived on scene, we noticed a very large wind-fed fire coming from the south-west corner of the house. It was a large fire and the wind was clearly playing a big role.

“When we started putting water on the fire, it was already beyond our control due to the size of the fire and the spread that the wind was causing.”

Complicating the firefighting effort was the fact there are no fire hydrants in rural areas. A fleet of tanker trucks, or tenders, from multiple departments hauled water from a hydrant on the south side of Port Washington to the scene of the blaze, racing back and forth on Highway C. 

“We were against all odds trying to get lots of water to put this big fire out,” Rice said, noting there were about 15 water tenders set up at Lake Shore Road and High Bluff Drive.

“We did everything we could, but at one point we could not overcome the wind and lack of water.”

Karpinski said 70,000 gallons of water were used to extinguish the blaze.

Fire departments from Ozaukee, Milwaukee, Sheboygan and Washington counties responded.

Four people were in the house at the time and escaped without injury. Two cats who were thought to be lost survived. 

The house is considered a total loss, Karpinski said.

Karpinski said the fire does not appear to be suspicious and the fire department is conducting an internal investigation. 

“We typically utilize the state fire inspector if there is a fatality or if it’s suspicious in nature,” Karpinski said.

LaGrange and her family have been Grafton residents for 30 years and have lived in the house for 14 years. She said they are staying with relatives who live in the county.

She said she is not sure if they will rebuild the house.