BEAUMONT, Texas — Nearly 24 hours ago a fire tore through the historic Gilbert Building in downtown Beaumont. The two-alarm fire burned for 10 hours before firefighters put it out.
The fire at the historic building is one of the largest in recent memory, taking more than 100 firefighters, including a crew from Nederland, to fight the blaze throughout the night.
It was all hands on deck to put out the enormous fire at the corner of Pearl and Bowie Street. The area and adjacent roads still remains closed.
The building's owner, Tom Flanagan, claims that last night's fire was no accident.
"This was a devastating loss, we're heartbroken," Flanagan said.
Flanagan says Thursday night's massive blaze put his plans to turn the building into upscale lofts in jeopardy.
"For 35 years, I've been trying to transform downtown," said Flanagan.
He says the Gilbert Building is the second downtown property he owns that has burned over the last two years and he claims it was no accident.
"The fire was set by vandals and possible arson. This is not the first fire that occurred downtown," Flanagan told 12News.
Beaumont Fire Chief Earl White says about 100 personnel were involved in putting out the blaze on Thursday.
"Because of the size of the fire, we had to put out, what we call, an all call," said Chief White.
He says they were lucky they didn't have to call on too many resources outside of the city.
"Nederland graciously sent their Tower 11, which is a ladder truck, to help with fire control," Chief White said.
Chief White confirms the only injury was one firefighter who was pulled out of the building due to heat exhaustion. He's expected to be okay.
"We were able to give him medical attention on scene and he's doing very very well. No lingering effects from the heat exhaustion," he said.
They are continuing to keep the blaze contained, but it will take some time for them to determine the true cause of the fire, according to Chief White.
"What's hindering us is not being able to enter the building. Because of the interior condition of the building, it's been allowed to sit for a number of years, which led to some deterioration, which was a determining factor as to why we brought our units out [of the building] for safety reasons," Chief White told 12News.
The area around the Gilbert Building and adjacent roads remain closed, while crews watch the scene, waiting to investigate.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
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