Neighbors’ frantic rescue attempts
turned back by smoke
By Tracy Ouellette
Staff writer
The Waukesha County Medical Examiner’s office has identified the woman who died in last week’s early morning fire above the Fork in the Road restaurant in Mukwonago.
Julie McKenzie, 39, was killed in the blaze that started just after 1 a.m. March 23.
“The 911 call came in here at 1:18 a.m., so it probably started a little before that,” Village of Mukwonago Police Chief Kevin Schmidt said.
The building houses the restaurant and two upper-level apartments, one occupied by McKenzie and the other home to Jamie Wambach, 39, a lifelong Waterford resident who moved to Mukwonago last month; her husband, Rick Daniel, 43; and her son, Adam Farra, 18.
“Rick heard the smoke alarm and thought it was coming from Adam’s bedroom because he smokes, but it wasn’t,” Wambach said. “He went to the hallway, saw smoke coming from Julie’s door and started pounding on the door and yelling for her. I tried calling her on her cell phone when he and Adam busted in the door and tried to find her, but the smoke was so black they couldn’t find her.
“She wasn’t sleeping on the couch like she usually did. We tried so hard to get to her.”
Wambach said the smoke drove them from the building. She ran out without shoes on.
“When the first police officer arrived she got a fire extinguisher and she and Adam went back in to try to get Julie, but they couldn’t, there was too much smoke. Adam was crawling on his belly and he still couldn’t,” Wambach said.
Schmidt confirmed Wambach’s account, praising the family members for their efforts.
“They did the heroic thing, more than most people would in that situation. Most people would just get out; they stayed,” Schmidt said. “There would have been more fatalities if they hadn’t got out when they did.”
The three survivors were all treated for smoke inhalation. Farra was taken by ambulance from the scene and his mother and stepfather drove themselves to the hospital. They were all released the same day.
“I’ve never been in a fire before, it’s a powerful thing and it takes on a life of its own and in an instant it hits you,” Wambach said. “I fell down and couldn’t get back up, Adam came in and got me. I’m just so blessed we’re OK.”
In hindsight, Wambach said, she was unprepared for something like this and wanted people to know to keep an emergency bag by their front door.
“I got out with my purse because it was by the bed,” she said. “But we had nothing else. Rick has congestive heart failure and we lost all his meds. Keep an emergency bag by the front door with things like medication in it, you never know something like this is coming.”
Schmidt said the police department is still investigating the cause of the fire with the State Fire Marshal and the Waukesha County Fire Investigation Team.
“The fire damage was limited to the apartment. The restaurant and other apartment had smoke and water damage – to what extent I don’t know yet,” Schmidt said.
Mary McNeill, of the Waukesha County Medical Examiner’s office, said McKenzie’s body was found in the bathroom of her upper-level apartment. The cause of death has not been determined, McNeill said, because the office is waiting for toxicology reports.
Wambach is an employee of Southern Lakes Newspapers. Her co-workers have set up a fund to help her family recover. Donations can be made at any Community State Bank under the Friends of Jamie Wambach.
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