A five-alarm fire destroyed several century-old vacant buildings in Baltimore — but some people said the problem began well before Tuesday.

“They just left them there like vacant houses. They don’t want to fix them up,” said Baltimore resident Jack McClelland.

McClelland, who has lived in the Lexington Market area for decades, has watched the block near Fayette Street and Howard Street fall apart.

“It’s sad when you’ve lived in Baltimore for as long as I have. I came here when I was seven years old, when the theatres used to be open down there and everything,” McClelland said.

Tuesday’s fire swept through seven buildings on the block, igniting in a vacant building and spreading to several more. The smallest of them collapsed and has since been demolished.

Police continued to maintain

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