Six people are dead, including four children, following a Tuesday morning house fire in Langlade County. WAOW-TV reports that the victims, including four children, died in the fire of a multi-family dwelling in the community of Pickeral.

The fire was reported at around 6:30 a.m. and crews spent four hours getting the flames under control.

The children range in age from seven months to 10 years old. The adults are said to be in their 30s. Names had not been released as of Tuesday evening and the cause of the fire has not been determined.

Pickeral is an unincorporated community located on Wisconsin Highway 55, 19 miles northeast of Antigo.

WSAU

A series of crashes on I-94 in Racine County killed two people and closed down the interstate for several hours.

Sheriff Christopher Schmaling says the chain reaction crash was started by a semi in a construction zone.

“A semi tractor trailer travelling southbound on I-94 near 50th Road, made a lane change, and ultimately hit a construction barrier.”

That started a crash that shoved the median divider into northbound traffic and into oncoming cars, and forced a second semi to veer off the road where it burst into flames.

Schmaling says the actions of the semi driver in veering off the road might have saved dozens of other people at the cost of their own life. He’s calling that driver a hero.

The State Patrol is handling the overall investigation.

A second man who was pulled from Lake Monona during Sunday’s Ironman Triathlon has died.

The second victim has been identified as Madison firefighter Todd Mahoney.

Mahoney had been in critical condition since being pulled from the water and died on Tuesday. Mahoney was a nine year veteran of the department and served as an apparatus engineer and chief’s aide. His death remains under investigation.

The first victim was named on Monday as 61-year-old Michael McColloch of Cottage Grove. He died after suffering a medical emergency in the water.

The person killed in Sunday massive pileup on I-41 at Neenah has been identified. Winnebago County Sheriff John Matz identified the man killed as 30-year-old Andrew Schefelker of Oshkosh, a teacher with the Iola-Scandinavia School District. During a Monday press conference, Matz also said that the multi-vehicle pileup appears to be the largest in state history.

Despite the chaotic situation, Chief Deputy Todd Christopherson said many things went right. “Within two hours, we essentially had everybody diverted from that location, all people into a warming center, and all people into a hospital.

.@WCSO_Wisconsin releases photos from scene of Sunday’s massive pileup on I-41 at Neenah. pic.twitter.com/L0cqxTBXKB

— WRN (@WRN) February 26, 2019

The massive chain reaction in the southbound lanes of I-41 at Neenah involved 131 vehicles and injured 71 people. Investigators are still working out exactly what happend.

Whiteout conditions in eastern Wisconsin have caused a fatal series of highway crashes. Over 130 vehicles crashed into one another in the southbound lanes of I-41 near Neenah on Sunday.

At least one person is dead and over 70 others were injured. Sections of the interstate were completely shut down and rerouted as rescue crews moved in to get all of the injured off the roads and to safety. Over 500 other vehicles that were stuck behind the crash had to be moved and rerouted.

The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office reported that I-41 southbound was opened back up as of 3:00 a.m. Monday.

State utility regulators will investige whether the contractor that caused a fatal explosion in downtown Sun Prairie last summer broke state law.

The Public Service Commission’s investigation will ask if V-C Tech broke state law — by not calling Digger’s Hotline before starting to install fiber optic lines last July 10th.

The resulting explosion destroyed five buildings, damaged many others, and a killed firefighter. Federal regulators have already fined V-C Tech and Bear Communications. Sun Prairie police found there was no criminal wrongdoing.

A contractor could be fined over an explosion that killed a Sun Prairie firefighter. VC Tech could face up to a half million dollars in fines for this summer’s deadly explosion in downtown Sun Prairie.

The state Public Service Commission is being asked to consider the penalties against the drilling company, which is accused of failing to notify Diggers Hotline before work started on the site on July 10th.

WIBA

No criminal charges will be filed, in connection to the July natural gas explosion in Sun Prairie which killed firefighter Cory Barr. Sun Prairie Police Chief Patrick Anhalt read a brief statement during a press conference Thursday. Anhalt said “incomplete and inaccurate information was exchanged and relied upon” before the blast, by contractors and subcontractors on a fiber optic cable project.

But he said that the investigation by his department, the state fire marshal’s office, the Dane County district attorney’s office, and the state attorney general’s office “concluded that there is not probable cause to believe a crime was committed.” The investigation is now classified as inactive.

Anhalt did not take questions, but referred media to a redacted reports on the city’s website. He also called for “a serious evaluation of regulatory language pertaining to the responsibilities of those engaged in utility work.”