UPDATE: Six people died in a murder-suicide and fire at a home in Hartland, Wis. The community is now raising money for families affected by the tragedy.
The following links are online fundraisers confirmed as legitimate by GoFundMe. Click on the links, learn more and donate.
Original reporting:
HARTLAND, Wis. — Just a day after a deadly fire in a Hartland apartment building took the lives of six people, community members are stepping in to help those who need it.
Kaye Kohlmann heard the news early Friday morning that her friends of over two decades, the Adam family, had escaped a deadly fire at their building.
“She's one of my oldest friends,” said Kohlmann. “I would do anything for them.”
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She got word back that her friends had safely made it out of the building but lost everything they own in the fire.
“I was so shocked,” Kohlmann told TMJ4. “You see these things all the time on the news like every day. It's all over. But you never realize it's going to be somebody you know, and it's never going to be that catastrophic.”
Kohlmann quickly set up a fundraiser to help her friends and their two young sons who are now without a home.
She said the goal was to help fund their immediate needs, like gift cards to restaurants or money to buy clothes.
The support from the Hartland community doesn’t stop there. Other friends of the Adam family have also set up a Go Fund Me, and neighbors in the area are offering up their homes as drop-off locations for donations.
“It's amazing to see other people that don't even know them help,” said Kohlmann. “Just the community coming together. It just restores my faith that there are still good people out there.”
For those in the Hartland area looking to drop off clothing donations for the Adam family, you can follow this link for more information.
The Hartland police chief confirmed six people are dead following Friday morning's fire. The victims have not been identified yet. The Waukesha County Medical Examiner’s Office, WI State Crime Lab, and the State Fire Marshals through the WI Division of Criminal Investigation are investigating the cause of the fire.
