Victim identified in fatal house fire near North Prairie

NORTH PRAIRIE - Fighting flames around the exceptional clutter inside a town of Mukwonago home on June 18, firefighters found the body of its sole occupant.

The fire just outside of North Prairie claimed the life of Richard Hoover, 77, who was found dead inside his badly burned home at S63 W31493 Road X early that evening. Authorities formally named Hoover as the only victim on Tuesday, June 19.

Multiple area fire departments were dispatched to the fatal fire, which was reported shortly after 5:30 p.m. The blaze, which authorities believe started in the basement, was under control by 8 p.m. and firefighters were clearing the scene by about 9 p.m.

Long before then, as they worked their way into the home, firefighters knew the home's owner would likely be found dead inside.

"With the fully involved basement and the heavy smoke conditions and heat, we knew that the survival probability was pretty slim at that time," said Mukwonago Fire Chief Jeff Stien, who was on the scene into late Monday.

Hoover's body was eventually found on the first floor about 10 feet from the door, Stien said.

The fire response was swift, but the battle to bring the blaze under control to do an interior search was "challenging," he acknowledged.

"We were delayed for a certain amount of time due to a huge amount of clutter," Stien said Tuesday. "There was basically one pathway to get through his house. With the extent of the fire that was going on in the basement, we wanted to contain that from the exterior before making the transition to the interior."

The house, located near Dable Road and Road X, will likely be considered a total loss, he said.

The cause was not immediately known. Due to the fatality, a team from the state's Division of Criminal Investigation has been called in.

However, Stien said authorities have ruled out lightning as the cause. At least two area homes — including one in New Berlin — were damaged by lightning strikes from a massive thunderstorm that rolled through late in the afternoon.

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