UPDATE at 3:15 p.m. CST on May 10, 2024: Ryan McMenamin, the Milwaukee Firefighter who was seriously burned while responding to a call on the 2400-block of S 8th St on April 14, is going home following nearly a month in recovery.
The following comments were issued by the Milwaukee Fire Department on Friday afternoon:
“We appreciate the excellent care he has received at St. Mary’s, whose staff will continue to support him as he focuses on his rest and recovery in his home with his family. Ryan has exuded an excellent attitude throughout, and the MFD will continue to be at his side in the months ahead as he readies himself to come back to the career he was made for.
Thank you to everyone who has held Ryan in their caring thoughts and prayers. Ryan and his family kindly ask that they be allowed their privacy as he continues to recover in the comfort of his home.”
The following story has been left unaltered from its original publishing.
MILWAUKEE — In what Milwaukee Fire Chief (MFD) Aaron Lipski told Wisconsin’s Afternoon News was simultaneously one of the closest calls and proudest moments of his time in this role, MFD rapid response teams helped save a Milwaukee firefighter who suffered severe burns while saving someone from an attic fire.
Chief Lipski told John Mercure and Julia Fello he visited the injured firefighter on April 22 as the victim continues a stretch of many consecutive surgeries to address burns across his body.
“The severity of the burns — it’s very serious, and he’s undergoing a series of surgeries,” Chief Lipski told WTMJ. ” This is going to be a long haul for him to recover. He is an extremely [serious, passionate firefighter]. He needs to come back.”
Milwaukee’s Fire Chief also told WTMJ it would be a “long haul for him to recover,” but that he’s in a good position to focus on his recovery.
“This may seem a weird thing to celebrate, but it is, at a minimum — he is alive. He is alive. He is in pain, he’s going through a lot, but he’s alive. He’s here. And he will recover,” Chief Lipski said.
He explained that in this instance, heated gasses which are not always visibly present as an open flame pre-heated the space in a way he compared to an oven. As the heat increased past a certain point, an ignition was triggered and vastly increased the danger present for firefighters and victims alike.
“It was an extremely tense, scary moment for everybody. Our firefighters — so many things went exactly right and they did so many things exactly right that morning,” he told WTMJ.
The victim’s father was described by the Milwaukee Fire Chief as a renowned retired fire lieutenant whose role in training and educating firefighters has made a vast impact on the region. Ultimately, he pushed for the Milwaukee Fire Department to advance its rapid intervention training that eventually helped save his son.
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