10-month-old among 6 killed in Wisconsin house fire

PICKEREL, Wis. — Authorities on Wednesday released the name of the youngest victim of a house fire that killed six people in a small northern Wisconsin town, but said it could take days or weeks to identify everyone else.

Fire officials say the blaze is believed to have started on the lower level of a multifamily home and spread upward. Town of Langlade Assistant Fire Chief Don Wineland said the home was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday and they couldn’t immediately enter the house.

The Langlade County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday said the youngest victim was a 10-month-old girl named Zoe M. Munoz Soto. The other people killed were a 1½-year-old girl, a 3-year-old boy, a 7-year-old boy, a 34-year-old woman and a 32-year-old man. Two other people escaped.

Authorities don’t suspect foul play. It’s unknown what caused the fire in the unincorporated community of Pickerel, which is about 200 miles northwest of Milwaukee.

Langlade County Coroner Larry Shadick said the news of the fire has been “overwhelming” for the small community.

“I think we’re all prepared for adults to die, but all of a sudden you have four children, you know, from 10 months to 7 years old, it’s just one of those ones that just crushes everyone,” Shadick said.