JANESVILLE, Wis. — A fire at a home in Janesville killed two people Friday afternoon, city officials said.
The fire broke out at a home in the 2300 block of Hawaii Drive just before 1:15 p.m. An initial report said flames were visible and people were trapped inside, according to a news release.
When firefighters got to the scene, they found heavy smoke and fire coming from the house.
“Basically the entire front half — the residence involved was a mobile home — basically the entire front half of the mobile home was heavily involved in fire,” Janesville Fire Department Battalion Chief Chris Lukas said.
The first firefighters to arrive at the scene “made a heroic effort attempting to get inside to locate the victims,” Lukas said. “Unfortunately, they were driven out by fire and heat initially.”
After they were able to get back inside, firefighters found one of the victims and pulled them out of the house. That person later died at a hospital. Shortly after they got the first victim out, firefighters found the second dead inside the house.
The victims’ names have not been released, but Lukas said both are adults.
Officials — including the state’s Division of Criminal Investigation — are still looking into what caused the fire. DCI’s involvement is standard protocol when a fire involves a death, Lukas said.
The home is considered a total loss.
Friday’s fire is the second deadly blaze in south-central Wisconsin this month. A fire at a home in Watertown on Dec. 9 killed three people, all of whom were students in the Watertown Unified School District.
Officials have not yet said what caused that fire either.
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