BEAUMONT, Texas — Beaumont Fire Rescue investigators now know what caused the Coldwell Banker Fire that shut down part of Delaware on Acadiana Court Wednesday night.
Captain Jimmy Blanchard confirmed it was an electrical fire. The department responded just before six Wednesday night. Crews found heavy fire conditions along with a lot of smoke coming out of the attic. Blanchard says they were able to contain it to one end of the building.
A leftover ember in a void space reignited the fire Thursday morning, but crews now have it completely contained.
"We had to actually tear open a new wall and tear open a column to get to where that fire originated from, so it was part of the same incident it was just unseen last night," Blanchard explained.
Carol Allen, the office manager for Coldwell Banker Commercial Arnold and Associates, says employees were lucky. The last person left about 15-20 minutes before call went in.
What's really crazy, according to Allen, was that the fire had already started behind a wall while they were still inside, and nobody noticed.
"It is extensive, but it could be far worse," Allen explained.
She raved about the effort made by the department. They allowed employees to go inside Wednesday night to get their computers, and other important items that they needed.
"How quickly they've (Beaumont Fire Rescue) been here and they have been here several times today, always checking, always making sure we're okay," Allen said.
For now, Allen says one of their customers has graciously allowed Coldwell Bankers to operate out of one of their offices behind the Best Buy center. Their phones have already been transferred, and staff can be easily reached through email from their cell phones. Allen says it might take up to six months to get back in their building.
"It will take some major renovation, but we'll get back in," she said.