2 people taken to hospital after fire near Mitchell Park Domes

Two people were taken to the hospital following a fire near Layton Boulevard and Evergreen Lane near the Mitchell Park Domes, according to the Milwaukee Fire Department.

Firefighters were dispatched around 5:30 p.m.

Firefighters said the fire scene appeared to be some sort of homeless encampment.

WISN 12 News was on scene and saw police blocking the bridge connecting Pierce Street to St. Paul Avenue.

Katelyn Proctor-Carrington and her son were walking under the bridge when they finally saw the fire. “I heard men screaming, and then someone came out of the fire going down the hill, under the bridge,” Proctor-Carrington said. “I shouted to him that I was calling the paramedics. It looked like they were trying to cook something and the fire got out of control. They tried to put it out by running down the hill, but some of them put out a little too long and they were the ones who were immediately taken away by the paramedics.”

Kenneth Hale Sr., a former California firefighter, said he went under the bridge to help a woman trapped inside a fence. “Me and a few guys went down underneath and opened the fence,” said Hale Sr. “The fire was near her back. We got her out from under there and carried her to the paramedics. The fire was so extreme that everyone wanted to abandon the young woman, but we decided to remove the barrier.”

The causes of the fire are still under investigation, according to firefighters.