Milwaukee, WI
Second Fire in 3 Months Hits Milwaukee U-Haul Storage Facility – Today in Milwaukee
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A two-alarm fire ripped through a U-Haul storage facility in Milwaukee’s South Side on Monday night, just months after a previous five-alarm fire caused significant damage to the same complex. The latest incident damaged 25 storage units on the first floor, while many others may have suffered water, smoke, or soot damage. Renters are now in a state of limbo, waiting to hear from U-Haul about the status of their belongings as the company works to restore power and allow access to the building.
Why it matters
This is the second major fire to hit the U-Haul storage facility in just three months, raising concerns about the safety and security of the complex. The repeated incidents have left many renters anxious about the fate of their personal belongings, which in some cases represent significant financial and sentimental value. The fires also highlight the challenges faced by the storage industry in maintaining reliable facilities and protecting customer property.
The details
The latest fire broke out on Monday night at the U-Haul storage facility located at the intersection of 1st Street and Lapham Avenue. Milwaukee firefighters responded to the two-alarm blaze, which caused damage to 25 storage units on the first floor. According to U-Haul, other units on the first floor as well as some on the upper floors may have also suffered water, smoke, or soot damage. This comes just 75 days after a previous five-alarm fire tore through a different part of the same storage complex, damaging around 400 of the 1,200 total units. The cause of the January fire was determined to be electrical, while the cause of the latest incident is still under investigation.
- The previous five-alarm fire at the U-Haul storage facility occurred on January 21, 2026.
- The latest two-alarm fire broke out on the evening of April 7, 2026.
- A demolition crew is scheduled to begin demolishing the part of the building damaged in the January fire next week.
The players
U-Haul
A major provider of moving and storage services, operating a large storage facility in Milwaukee that has been impacted by two fires in the past three months.
Debra Bennett
A renter at the U-Haul storage facility who has thousands of dollars’ worth of collectibles stored in her unit, which was spared in the first fire but is now in limbo as she waits to hear if it was damaged in the latest incident.
Aaron Lipski
The Milwaukee Fire Chief who responded to the scene of the latest two-alarm fire at the U-Haul storage facility.
Jeff Lockridge
The U-Haul manager of media and public relations who provided details about the damage caused by the latest fire and the company’s plans to assist affected customers.
Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services
The city agency that has ordered the demolition of the part of the U-Haul storage facility damaged in the January fire, and is overseeing the safety of the building following the latest incident.
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What they’re saying
“I never thought I should move my stuff. I thought, well, one detrimental fire and that’s it.”
— Debra Bennett, U-Haul storage renter
“You weren’t expecting a second one.”
— James Stratton, Investigative reporter
“No. Who was?”
— Debra Bennett, U-Haul storage renter
What’s next
Once power is restored to the U-Haul storage facility, the company says it will begin contacting affected customers on Thursday to schedule inspections of their belongings and coordinate any necessary cleaning, drying, or re-boxing services.
The takeaway
The repeated fires at the U-Haul storage facility in Milwaukee have left many renters on edge and questioning the safety and security of their personal belongings. This incident highlights the challenges faced by the storage industry in maintaining reliable facilities and protecting customer property, especially in the face of unexpected disasters.
Have you ever been to the 4th Base Bar and Grill in Milwaukee, Wisconsin? I just learned about this place today, and it’s definitely a place I need to experience this summer!
Milwaukee’s Mullet Bar
As a lifelong Illinois girl who comes from a family of Chicago Cubs fans, I feel legally obligated to side-eye anything related to Milwaukee and baseball. However, for 4th Base Bar and Grill, I am willing to make an exception.
Google Street View
From the outside, the 4th Base Bar and Grill may look like your average sports/dive bar, but a truly unique dining experience awaits you inside.
4th Base Bar and Grill is often referred to as Milwaukee’s mullet bar, because it’s the best way to describe it: Sports bar in the front, fancy steakhouse in the back.
Please allow me to explain.
What Makes 4th Base Bar and Grill Unique
At 4th Base Bar and Grill, there is no menu.
Instead, there is a full deli case in the back where you walk up and choose what you want to eat, and then the chef whips up a fabulous meal with it.
We’re talking filet mignon, king crab, scallops… the kind of dinner you’d expect somewhere with white tablecloths and waiters wearing bowties… not next to a guy in a Brewers jersey yelling at the TV.
Fun Fact About 4th Base Bar and Grill
Another thing that makes 4th Base stand out is this:
Not only has it been around since the late 1970s, but the bar also had a cameo in the baseball movie Major League released in 1989!
Does this look familiar?
The next time you venture north to Milwaukee, be sure to give 4th Base a try… and maybe leave your Cubs jersey at home.
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Lots open and fans launch early tailgating for Brewers opener
The parking lots officially open and Brewers fans set up, launching early tailgating ahead of the team’s 2026 home opener.
By now, Milwaukee Brewers fans have hopefully found a reliable way to catch game broadcasts in 2026, the first year of a new format in which Major League Baseball produces and distributes games.
The Brewers formerly appeared on a regional sports network known as FanDuel Wisconsin (operated by Main Street Sports), but the demise of Main Street pushed the Brewers and several other teams under the MLB umbrella.
Here’s what to know about watching Brewers games in the 2026 season:
Where can I stream Brewers games?
The new Brewers.TV offering, operated through MLB.com, allows Brewers fans to see local games in-market for $99.99 a season, and there are also monthly plans. Fans can also get the full MLB.TV package – enabling them to see all out-of-market games, as well – for $199.99 this season. That’s a bit of a bargain since it costs $149.99 to watch MLB.TV alone, without the Brewers broadcasts.
Can I still watch the Brewers on cable or satellite?
It took right up until Opening Day to announce the channels, but the Brewers made good on their promise that things would be largely unchanged for cable and satellite subscribers, identifying a litany of locations for the various providers around the state.
Channels for Brewers.TV include 1263 on XFinity, 670 on DirecTV and 1743 on U-Verse. For Spectrum customers, the channel varies, depending on the local system – check 308, 1308, 319, 317 and 469 for the channel or channels in your community.
Can I use my cable or satellite credentials to watch games on the Brewers.TV app?
Not yet, even though that was an option previously available with the FanDuel Sports Network app. However, an inquiry into MLB Fan Support indicated that the option “should be available soon.” That’s significant for subscribers to a service like Spectrum, which has an app that enables viewers to watch live TV but often blacks out select channels, including the channel airing Brewers games, when a user is away from the home wi-fi.
Can I watch Brewers games ‘over-the-air’ using an antenna?
Not most games, but there’s a slate of games that will be available on local channels, including WITI-TV (Channel 6) in Milwaukee, with broadcasts that can also be viewed “over the air” with an antenna or on cable or satellite systems with local channels.
Are there some games that will air on other channels or streaming services?
Yes, and here’s the list:
- May 4 at Cardinals, game will air on Fox Sports 1 (but also the regular places like Brewers.TV)
- May 23 vs. Dodgers, Fox
- June 1 vs. Giants, FS1, in addition to regular channels
- June 13 vs. Phillies, Fox
- June 26 vs. Cubs, AppleTV (so a separate subscription will be needed)
- July 5 at Diamondbacks, NBC Sports Network and Peacock
- July 12 at Pirates, NBCSN and Peacock
- Aug. 2 at Angels, NBCSN and Peacock
- Aug. 15 at Dodgers, Fox
- Aug. 23 vs. Braves, ESPN and on the ESPN App (it’s the Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pennsylvania)
- Aug. 29 vs. Rangers, Fox
- Sept. 20 at Orioles, NBCSN and Peacock
The Brewers actually have an ESPN game this year?
Yes, and it’s a cool format. Though it’s considered a home game, the Brewers will play at a ballpark in conjunction with the Little League World Series, playing a game before a limited crowd of 2,500 Little League World Series qualifiers and their families. It’s the first time the Brewers have appeared in a neutral-site game produced by MLB and the first ESPN “Sunday Night Baseball” appearance for the club since 2022.
Who are the Brewers announcers in 2026?
The announcers who called the action in 2025 are largely unchanged.
- Brian Anderson: He’s been doing Brewers TV broadcasts since 2007 but has a large plate of assignments for Turner broadcasting, leaving him with about 50 broadcasts on his docket.
- Jeff Levering: With Anderson out, Levering has become the primary TV play-by-play man, though he also does a number of radio broadcasts when Anderson is available. This is his 12th season with the Brewers.
- Bill Schroeder: The former Brewers catcher has cut back to mostly home games as the TV analyst in recent years. He’s been in the booth for more than 30 years.
- Sophia Minnaert: The TV sideline analyst has been with the team 14 years and takes part in virtually every sbroadcast.
- Lane Grindle: In his 11th year, he’s often tasked with primary play-by-play duties on radio when Levering is in the TV booth; he works alongside Levering otherwise.
- Josh Maurer: In his fifth year, he works primarily on radio alongside Grindle when Levering is in the TV booth, but he’s also appeared in the TV booth early in the 2026 season when Levering missed games with illness.
- Vinny Rottino: The former Brewer often participates as a TV analyst in road games; this is his sixth season doing a handful of games.
- Tim Dillard: The irreverent former Brewers pitcher has been with the Brewers as an occasional road TV analyst over the past five years.
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BOSTON – It transcends jersey color, roster construction, what year it is and whoever happens to be on the mound: When Willson Contreras plays the Milwaukee Brewers, he is going to get mad.
The latest chapter in a decades-long inevitability between player and opponent occurred April 6 at Fenway Park. Contreras, now with the Boston Red Sox, was wearing different colors from each of the previous, interdivisional spats with Milwaukee, but it looked the same as each of the prior phases.
A Brewers pitcher hit Contreras, and he did not appreciate it.
The fireworks in Fenway occurred in the third inning when a sinker from Brandon Woodruff grazed the top of Contreras’ hand – though the visiting side, including Willson’s younger brother and Brewers catcher William Contreras, thought otherwise. The pitch was up but hardly in, just off the plate to the inside by a couple of inches.
The Red Sox first baseman immediately slammed his bat in frustration and began taking steps toward the mound before redirecting his path to first base. All the while, he harped toward Woodruff.
“That’s how he plays,” said William Contreras.
This was not just a one-off; there is history there. Plenty of it.
It was the 24th time Contreras had been hit by the Brewers in 121 games and the sixth time that Woodruff had hit him, both facts that were quickly brought up after the Brewers’ 8-6 win.
Contreras, 33, has long viewed it as purposeful by the Brewers, dating back to even the days of Craig Counsell as manager when Milwaukee and the Chicago Cubs played dozens of fierce games over the years.
“It’s not just the hit by pitch, it’s the 24th pitch they’ve hit me in my career,” Contreras said. “Twenty-fourth. That’s the sixth time [Woodruff] has hit me and they always say, ‘I’m not trying to hit you.’ That gets old.”
On the other side, the Brewers insist they aren’t trying to hit Contreras, but rather it’s a byproduct of playing so often over the years and his proclivity to lean over the plate. Contreras, after all, is plunk-prone. He ranks second among active players in hit by pitches.
To relitigate all the hit-by-pitches (and, in most cases, ensuing dust-ups) would be a task too arduous for this space, but there are many. They date back to his tenure with the Cubs, which began in 2016, and up until this night in Boston the most recent dustup was last June.
There has been strife over more than just being hit by pitch, too. Last year, Rhys Hoskins got into it with Contreras over what the Brewers perceived to be a dirty play at first base involving now-Sox teammate Caleb Durbin.
Some in the Brewers clubhouse also quietly stewed about Contreras stepping out of the box and onto home plate as Jacob Misiorowski delivered a pitch to try and throw him off during his MLB debut last June.
Safe to say the Brewers are over it.
“We’ve seen that skit for the last 10 years,” Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich said. “It’s nothing new.”
Contreras, though, is not.
“Next time they hit me again, I’m going to take one of them out,” he said. “That’s the message.”
The ordeal puts the younger Contreras in a difficult spot, effectively having to choose between his brother and his team whenever the sides play. But William is also leaving no questions to where his allegiances lie when the dust flies up during play.
“He’s my brother – after we leave the stadium,” he said.
William attempted to calm Willson down once again after the Woodruff hit by pitch, but to no avail.
“I tried, but it’s impossible,” little brother said.
Willson continued barking toward the mound after getting to first, only ceasing because he had to run two pitches later to second base, where he went in with cleats high and took a chunk of shortstop David Hamilton’s pant legs with him.
“We’ve been through this – it’s, what, nine years for me? – It seems like every year,” Woodruff said. “He’s trying to play a game and he’s trying to get his side fired up. Once I knew what was going on, I wasn’t going to let it affect me on the mound. I knew I had a job to do. I knew the pitch count was still down, even though I had given up a few runs. And I knew the bullpen was short. So I knew I needed to go out there and just keep competing.”
A riled-up Contreras kept burning the Brewers with his bat as the game went on, getting a hit in each of his next three at-bats, including a mammoth solo homer in the ninth.
The Brewers, though, got the final word in the series opener.
“That was a great win,” Yelich said. “It was a ‘toughness’ win from the guys. Got down early, it was cold out there, we got a short bullpen and we found a way to win. We’re willing to grind with anybody. Just really proud of the guys for stepping up and finding a way there, just willing it.”
Now, we wait and see what’s next.
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