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Three fires within a one mile radius in Beaumont; one victim flown to Houston hospital

Firefighters in Beaumont battled four fires early Tuesday morning.

BEAUMONT — Beaumont firefighters were busy early Tuesday morning fighting three separate structure fires on the south side of Beaumont that gutted a home and sent one person to a Houston hospital via helicopter.

The first fire happened around 3:30 a.m. near Washington Blvd and Irving Street according to the Beaumont Fire Department.

In that fire one person was burned severely enough to be transported to Houston by helicopter.

Police and firefighters blocked off the intersection of Washington Blvd and Irving Streets for an Air Med helicopter to land and transport the victim

Not long after the first fire, firefighters responded to a house fire in the 2000 block of Pear Street. Scott Wheat with the Beaumont Fire Department said investigators believe the cause of that fire was a space heater. Wheat doesn't believe anyone was home at the time of the fire, but their may have been pets inside.

Wheat wanted to remind those using space heaters to make sure they are current and UL listed. This means they've gone through a testing procedure and have certain safety features. Wheat says to also pay attention to your surroundings. He said make sure not to place them near anything flammable or combustible.

A fire burned a home in the 2000 block of Pear Street early Tuesday morning.

Then, at about 4:30 a.m., firefighters responded to a house fire in the 1800 block of Tilson Street where a home was gutted but no one was injured.

The house appeared to be a total loss according to Beaumont firefighters. Investigators told 12News early Tuesday morning that they believed the house was abandoned, and the fire was started by homeless people trying to keep warm.

Wheat said the cause of the fire is under investigation, and they cannot release any information at this time.

Kerry Chism notified first responders of the fire on Tilson after waking up with her newborn.

"I have kids inside so I'm glad I saw it cause it could have came over here, everybody else was asleep," said Chism.

She said when they went outside the entire house was engulfed inflames. Chism doesn't believe the fire was an accident.

"A blind man could tell that that house was abandoned so somebody started it, that's what I believe," said Chism.

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All three fires happened within about a mile radius of each other.

It was also reported by Jimmy Blanchard with the Beaumont Fire Department that a fourth fire happened at Joachami Street at Ave. H. Blanchard said it was a car fire, and there were no injuries. He said they were dispatched just after 2 a.m.

This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.

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