This from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

A small smoke electrical fire in a power closet located at the ground level of the Milwaukee County Courthouse has caused a power failure to the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s communications center.

The communications center is running on back-up power. All 911 calls are being transferred to the Waukesha County Sheriff’s communications center where Milwaukee dispatchers have also been reassigned.

The Milwaukee County Courthouse and Public Safety Building will be closed Monday and Tuesday, after a fire Saturday knocked out power, caused more than a half-million dollars in damage and forced county dispatchers to move to Waukesha County to field 911 calls.

The fire began at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in a large basement utility room with numerous electrical systems inside. Fire officials estimated the cost of the damage to the building at $368,000, and the property damage inside was estimated at $150,000.

The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office has been operating under its emergency plan, with dispatchers fielding 911 calls from the Waukesha County communications center, Capt. Scott Stiff said.

It wasn’t immediately clear how long the county’s emergency calls would have to be dispatched out of Waukesha County. Abele said public safety has not been compromised, and that there has been no drop in 911 service.

Investigators have determined it was an accidental fire, Milwaukee Deputy Fire Chief Aaron Lipski said Sunday, and an electrical fire of this scope can pose problems for firefighters.

The electrical system failed and caused power to fail for a large area of downtown, including the responding fire station, which had a generator to power its garage doors so crews could respond within several minutes, he said.

We Energies arrived to help. The courthouse has backup generators, but those, too, had to be shut down while firefighters worked.

“(The generators) will kill us just the same as regular power,” Lipski said.

The bunker-like nature of the room where the fire started helped prevent the flames from spreading quickly, but it also meant firefighters had poor access to the room and ventilation. Crews used dry chemicals and carbon dioxide extinguishers and had the flames under control by 2:12 p.m.

The jail portion of the courthouse complex was secure the entire time, Lipski said. Crews worked with the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office, Milwaukee Police Department and We Energies to make sure no one was inside near the fire and other smoke-filled rooms.

“What is different about that building, even though it was on a Saturday, is the potential for a prisoner to be in that building who cannot self-evacuate. It raises the concern level quite a bit,” Lipski said.

The last firefighters left the courthouse shortly after 4 p.m. Lipski said he did not recall the last time such a large fire occurred at the courthouse.

Thanks Chris

Tags: Milwaukee County 911 dispatch center fire, Milwaukee County Courthouse, Milwaukee County Sheriff's communications center, Milwaukee Deputy Fire Chief Aaron Lipski, Milwaukee Fire Department, Waukesha County Sheriff's communications center