BALTIMORE (WBFF) — A rowhome fire in west Baltimore that spread from a vacant house to neighboring properties is renewing concerns from residents about squatting and illegal activity inside the city’s many vacant buildings.In the daylight Thursday, damage was visible along Appleton Street near Presbury Street, where multiple homes were left hollowed out after a fire Wednesday night. Neighbors said the fire started in a vacant house and then jumped to other homes, including at least one other vacant property.ALSO READ | Baltimore squatter’s ‘disco’ bedroom highlights property takeover crisisCity housing officials posted signs outside the burned homes indicating the dwellings have been condemned and are unsafe for inhabitants.Lauren Colclough, who lives across the street from where the fire broke out and did not want his face shown, said vagrants were routinely seen in the vacant home on the corner. “It’s horrible. I mean, I live here,” Colclough said.Colclough said he has repeatedly contacted city leaders about the issue. “I’ve called the city council people. I’ve called the Mayor’s Office, year, after year, after year, after year,” he said.Colclough also described what he said a bystander told him during the fire. Last night, the guy was standing here, saying, they were probably in there getting high. I don’t know that. I can’t say that that I don’t know what they were doing. But the guy who was standing here last night observing the fire, like most of us were, said, they were probably in there getting high,” he said.Firefighters found a vacant house “up in flames” when they arrived, and neighbors said it was occupied by squatters. Fire officials reported no injuries.Colclough said the impact of the fire extended beyond the burned structures. “Because I’m a homeowner, and I don’t want to live next door to this. This is problematic to my peace. Your home is your sanctuary, and you definitely shouldn’t have to deal with all of the horrible things that go along with living next door to an empty house,” he said.He said nearby homeowners were affected by the damage and firefighting efforts. “It’s awful, you see the results. These two people who own this property now have destroyed homes. My other neighbor has water in his basement, his house has been affected, four houses up, has been affected by this,” Colclough said.ALSO READ | Baltimore permitting ‘mess’: 3-year delay stalls vacant home rehabAttempts to reach Councilman James Torrence, who represents the district, did not receive a reply. The Baltimore City Fire Department also was contacted with questions about fires at vacant homes, but no reply was received.In a previous interview about vacant home fires, Rich Langford, former president of the Local 734 firefighters union, said the problem is widespread. “Vacant home fires are a huge issue. The majority of the home fires we fight in the city are vacant homes,” Langford said.The latest data cited in that earlier reporting showed that in 2022, nearly 30% of fires over the previous five years were in vacant homes. Langford pointed to multiple factors that can contribute to the problem. “You have the homeless issue. You have drug issues, and people don’t have nothing better to do than start fires in these homes,” he said.Fire officials said the cause of the Appleton Street blaze remains under investigation.
