NEW GLARUS — A New Glarus family wasn’t home at the time, but lost nearly everything in their home after a house fire May 9, New Glarus Fire Chief Josh Kammerud said.
Firefighters were paged about 10:24 a.m. to the 500 block of Green Valley Road in New Glarus for a residential structure fire after a neighbor reported seeing smoke and flames, Kammerud said. The neighbor was able to determine at the time that no one was home.
It was the home of Mike and Keeley Welsh and their two sons, ages 3 and 5.
By the time firefighters arrived, Kammerud said the roof was fully engulfed in flames. Knowing everyone was out, they started a “defensive attack” to keep the fire contained. Mutual aid was called in from several departments with about 50 additional firefighters on scene from Belleville, Monticello, Argyle, Blanchardville, Verona, Mount Horeb, Monroe, Fitchburg and Albany. New Glarus Area EMS was also on hand.
The home was a total loss, Kammerud said, along with “about 99% of its content.” Given the extensive damage, the cause of the fire will not be determined.
“We are not going to be able to determine (the cause) beyond a shadow of a doubt,” Kammerud said.
Heavy equipment was brought in to raze what was left standing of the home because it wasn’t safe, Kammerud said. The fire department began clean up around 5:30 p.m. the day of the fire and it was monitored throughout the following day.
“Overall, given the circumstances the operation went as smoothly as could be expected,” Kammerud said, noting that the safety of the family is a positive outcome, despite the loss of the home being emotionally difficult for some of the firefighters. “We had lost the battle before we even made it on scene.”
The New Glarus Area EMS posted on Facebook the day of the fire asking for donations at specific drop-off points, later updating that they had received an overwhelming response and more physical donations weren’t needed at that time. A GoFundMe page was started May 10 and by the following morning had raised more than $15,000 for the family. Kammerud said he heard the family was staying with friends.
“The community support has been just really overwhelming,” Kammerud said. “By the time we got back to the station to assess … it was incredibly overwhelming the outpouring of support for this family.”