TORONTO – A three-alarm fire broke out at building under construction in east Baltimore Monday evening, just hours after violent riots spread through the city and prompted Gov. Larry Hogan to declare a state of emergency.
A spokesman for the mayor of Baltimore, Kevin Harris, said the fire at the Mary Harvin Transformation Center was related to rioting in the city.
The MHTC was reportedly earmarked to have roughly 60 senior-citizen apartments and a community centre.
WATCH: Pastor of Southern Baptist church shocked by blaze at community centre
Pastor Donte L. Hickman of the Southern Baptist church, which was behind the MHTC, said he was heartbroken upon hearing of the fire.
“My heart is obviously broken because some did not understand that we were for the community,” Hickman told reporters. “Somebody didn’t understand that we were working on behalf of the community to invest where nobody else would.”
“We wanted to see this community rebuilt for the existing residents of east Baltimore. It breaks our heart but we are going to rise up from the ashes,” he said.
READ MORE: Baltimore riots, looting prompt state of emergency after Freddie Gray funeral
Kevin Johnson, a 53-year-old resident of the area, told the Associated Press he was disappointed the building had been set on fire.
“They built it from the ground up. For elderly people, for old people,” Johnson said. “Now it’s burned down, man. That don’t make no sense. It’s burned down.”
Firefighters eventually knocked down the fire just before 10:00 p.m. and were spraying water on neighbouring commercial and residential buildings around what’s left of the MHTC to ensure no flames spread to the abandoned buildings nearby.
Earlier Monday, rioters set fire to a CVS pharmacy as protests following the funeral of Freddie Gray took a violent turn. Firefighters attempting to put out the blaze were hampered after one of their hoses connected to fire hydrant was sliced open.
The riots over the death of Freddie Gray, whose fatal encounter with officers came amid the national debate over police use of force, has led to a state of emergency being declared in Baltimore and a city-wide curfew will take effect Tuesday.
*With files from the Associated Press
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