Fire officials extinguished a blaze next to the Baltimore NAACP headquarters on Thursday afternoon.

Shortly before 2:30 in the afternoon, visible flames could be seen streaming from the windows at 2 West 26th Street in Charles Avenue.

That building is part of a small block of four rowhomes that includes the NAACP and the Wildseed Gear Library, a non-profit dedicated to making camping gear accessible to communities of color.

Leadership from both organizations reported that all staff were evacuated and physically safe.

Firefighters on the scene reported that they did not find anyone in the structure after the flames were extinguished.

Neighbors watched on in anxiety as the fire roared. They said that the building has been abandoned for years and some have even reported it to the city.

“Our office has been trying to get them to come and look at this building and trying to. shut this building down,” said Gerald Wilson, a caretaker who works with the Charles Village Benefits District. “But no one comes out to ever look at it… it’s been getting worse and worse. This was bound to happen.”

Sometimes, Wilson said, people squat in the building for shelter and he feared that someone could have been hurt.

“It needs to be torn down… it’s just not good for the community,” he said of the vacant building.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, said a spokesperson with the Baltimore City Fire Department.