A 3-alarm fire in Southwest Baltimore leaves one man in critical condition
BALTIMORE -- A three-alarm fire destroyed several homes in Southwest Baltimore on Saturday.
A neighbor, who declined to share his name, said his daughter was the first to call 911.
"The flames went up so quickly, instantly," he said.
The fire began at a vacant home in the 2100 block of Ramsay Street in the Carrollton Ridge neighborhood and it rapidly spread.
Authorities found a man inside who was in cardiac arrest and suffering severe burns.
"Upon arrival, they noticed heavy fire conditions in the rear of the structure. Right away, they established a water supply, began to attack the fire. The fire started to grow in its intensity, so the incident commander requested a second alarm," said Kevin Cartwright, the director of communications with the Baltimore City Fire Department.
"Initially, it was believed this victim was expired but that was not the case," Cartwright said.
He told WJZ that first responders were able to revive the patient who remained hospitalized in critical condition at last check.
Carrollton Ridge has been plagued with vacant buildings. The city's tracker shows almost 800 of them in the small neighborhood.
Just around the corner on Furrow Street in May of 2022, Miguel Soto Diaz was tortured, shot and set on fire in a vacant rowhome.
The owner was trying to fix the place up and evict squatters but told WJZ shortly after the fire that he got little help from the city or the court system.
Baltimore currently has 13,982 vacant buildings citywide, which is down from 15,033 in January 2022. That's the year when three firefighters were killed after becoming trapped in a vacant rowhome on Stricker Street.
The city has pledged to provide more resources and reinvestment to stop the blight.
In January on Bentalou Street, one adult female dog and 10 puppies died in a fire. Another dog and a puppy were rescued.
As for the three-alarm fire Saturday, Cartwright said the cause is still under investigation.
He said a specialized canine and investigators from Anne Arundel County are assisting with that investigation.
"It's just too early," he said.