Authorities in Wisconsin report that a man, frustrated with his neighbors’ marijuana usage, allegedly resorted to setting their shared apartment building ablaze. The incident has drawn significant attention in the Badger State.

Keith Alan Luko, aged 44, faces a series of serious charges, including arson of a building and first-degree reckless injury. Additionally, he has been charged with six counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, as per information from the Milwaukee Police Department.

The troubling events unfolded on Friday, January 17, at an apartment complex located on West Fardale Avenue, in the southern region of Milwaukee.

Firefighters responded to a call shortly after 6 a.m., arriving around 6:30 a.m. to combat the flames that had started to engulf the hallways. Their timely intervention was crucial in rescuing numerous residents from the second floor, as detailed in a criminal complaint sourced by local news outlets Fox affiliate WITI and ABC affiliate WISN.

Upon entering the building, the firefighting team encountered intense fire conditions near the main entrance. Subsequent investigations revealed that the fire had been deliberately set, as evidenced by smoke patterns, heat damage, and the condition of the electrical systems, according to the complaint.

Surveillance footage pointed investigators in the defendant”s direction, according to police. In one clip, Luko is seen lugging a sleigh-like device containing several personal items away from the building and to the front sidewalk well before the fire, police say. Then, the defendant returns to the building before quickly leaving again as a wall of flame rears up behind him, the footage allegedly shows.

After that, Luko allegedly fled the scene on foot.

The defendant, eventually found some 5 miles due west near the corner of West Howard Avenue and South 99th Street, allegedly admitted to setting the fire because he “was angry about his neighbors smoking marijuana” and so he “poured gasoline in the hallway” before igniting the accelerant with a lighter, according to the complaint.

In all, five people between the ages of 9 and 94 years old were hospitalized as a result of the fire, authorities said.

The 9-year-old suffered a broken pelvis due to being thrown from her second-story window to avoid the inferno, according to law enforcement. The girl’s parents were also injured, coming away from the incident with cuts, bruises, and scratches, police said.

“The door was extremely hot to the touch,” the child’s mother told authorities. “She could smell smoke coming from the hallway.”

Luko’s own mother was also injured amid the resulting chaos, police said. The woman recalled being roused from sleep when Luko came inside to grab a pack of cigarettes, later heard the fire alarm, went to the living room where she saw smoke, then pushed out a window screen to “let herself down,” according to the complaint. The defendant’s mother ended up with scrapes and a broken ankle.

One resident was hospitalized with severe smoke inhalation while another was treated for lacerations to her legs, police said.

The building was disfigured by black soot, smoke, and charring. All eight units were left uninhabitable and some 25 people were displaced by the fire altogether, according to the Red Cross.

The building itself lacked functional sprinklers because the structure was built prior to sprinklers being made mandatory in all living spaces, according to Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski.