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ATF completes investigation into January 24 fire that killed 3 Baltimore City firefighters

 Baltimore man plants trees at scene of South Stricker Street fire to honor the three firefighters killed
Posted at 4:04 PM, Oct 27, 2022
and last updated 2022-10-27 18:27:56-04

BALTIMORE — The ATF says they've completed their investigation into the January 24 fire that killed three Baltimore City firefighters.

It was that morning when a vacant home at 205 S. Stricker went up in flames.

Paul Butrim, Kelsey Sadler and Kenneth Lacayo were among the firefighers who responded to battle the blaze.

The privately owned vacant collapsed, trapping the trio, ultimately killing them.

Their deaths were ruled homicide, as an act of arson was determined to have caused the fire.

RELATED:7 Minutes to Collapse; A Closer Look at the Deadly Stricker St Fire

Little information has been revealed on any potential suspects.

So far, investigators have only released a 40 second video clip that shows a person near the scene of the fire the night before.

A $100,000 reward was being offered for information leading to that person's identity.

That was back in February, and there has since been no followup as to whether or not that individual was ever identified, or if he's still even considered a suspect or person of interest.

All the ATF could confirm for now is that they've referred their findings to the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office.

"In any investigation, ATF assesses which attorney’s office—local, state, or federal—we will refer a case to by considering jurisdictional matters, types of charges that can be filed, penalties associated with those charges, and more," said Amanda Hils, Public Information Officer of the ATF Baltimore Field Division. "In this instance, that office is the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office."

For their part Baltimore City lawmakers and the fire department have taken some steps in an effort to prevent an incident like this from happening again.

On Wednesday, firefighters began posting red reflective signs on the front and back of vacant buildings that have been deemed unsafe.

The hope is that those signs will help tip off firefighters in the event they ever have to respond there for a fire.

Some City Council members have proposed other measures.

Councilwoman Danielle McCray introduced one that would have barred firefighters from entering a burning vacant building unless someone was confirmed to be trapped inside. The bill received pushback from the fire department and its union.

City Council President Nick Mosby also offered aseries of bills that would have charged vacant property owners to pay for emergency response services.

Vacant properties in the City were a problem long before the deadly fire. In fact, the home in which the firefighters died in had caught fire seven-years earlier. Back in 2021, the Baltimore City council passed a billrequiring vacant homes to have a QR code on them with the owner's contact information.

Currently there are 14,000 vacant structures in Baltimore City, of those officials have identified 700 that are unsafe.