HOUSE COLLAPSES:
No injuries reported in Southwest Baltimore incident, officials say
A vacant rowhouse in the 1900 block of Ramsay St. in the Carrollton Ridge section of Southwest Baltimore collapsed Friday about 6 a.m., a portion of the vacant building tumbling into a woman’s kitchen next door. No injuries were reported.
A vacant rowhouse in Carrollton Ridge in Southwest Baltimore collapsed Friday morning, with a portion of the vacant building landing in a woman’s kitchen, officials said.
The house in the 1900 block of Ramsay St. tumbled into the home next door about 6 a.m., a Baltimore Fire Department spokesman said. No injuries were reported.
The cause of the collapse has not been determined, department spokesman Sam Johnson said. The housing inspector was notified.
The single-family home’s primary structure was built in 1920, according to property records. A housing department spokeswoman said the home had not been inspected since September 2007, when a use permit was issued.
Code enforcement inspectors generally visit a property only if an occupant complained, spokeswoman Tania Baker said.
City housing officials maintain a list of about 17,000 vacant buildings in the city; more than 500 are considered at risk of collapse. Some are so decrepit that the city inspects them every 10 days.
In March, a rowhouse collapsed and killed Thomas Lemmon, who was crushed as he sat in his parked Cadillac near his home in the 900 block of N. Payson St. in West Baltimore. Lemmon, 69, died at a hospital.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said in April that she had quadrupled the amount the city spends on razing vacant buildings to $10 million a year. She has acknowledged that that is not enough to keep up with the problem in an aging city.
City officials have identified thousands of vacant houses that ought to be torn down eventually, at an estimated cost of $500 million. The state has pledged to provide $75 million over four years to speed the demolitions.