It’s been about six months since a vacant house fire killed three Baltimore firefighters. Since then, the city has made a small dent in the number of abandoned residential properties to curb future fires, officials told city council Tuesday.
But family members of one slain firefighter pushed for more action and called blighted properties ‘death traps’.
“These vacant structures have created an increased danger to the public servants as well as the citizens in which they serve,” said Lacey Marino, the sister of Kelsey Sadler one of the firefighters killed.
After the January fire, Mayor Brandon Scott ordered a 30-day review of the city’s strategies to address vacant houses in Baltimore.
Since March, more than 100 vacant properties were demolished by the city housing department and 88 other properties are undergoing repairs to stabilize the structures.
