Three people, one of them a 3-year-old girl, had to be rescued Saturday afternoon from a second-floor balcony after a fire broke out at a multi-family dwelling at 17th Street and Grand Avenue as tenants were repairing the gas tank on a car.
A 50-year-old man suffered what fire officials described as “noncritical burns” in the incident.
Racine firefighters were dispatched at 12:47 p.m. to 1650 Grand Ave. The building also has an address of 702 17th St., fire officials said. Neighbors said they ran outside or looked out their windows after hearing a sound like an explosion or a car crash. Flames and smoke were quickly evident, the witnesses said.