BEAUMONT, Texas — An elderly man has died in a house fire Wednesday night in Beaumont.
BPD confirm that the man who passed away is 93-year-old Lawrence Teal Jr. of Beaumont.
Beaumont Police officers and Beaumont Fire Rescue Station #3 were sent to a house fire around 11:45 p.m. on Wednesday, December 27, 2023 on the 2400 block of Amarillo Street.
Beaumont Fire Rescue Captain Otis Brooks confirmed one person was deceased.
Jefferson County Precinct 6 Justice of the Peace Judge Ransom Jones pronounced Teal deceased and ordered an autopsy.
A neighbor told 12News Teal lived by himself and that she witnessed the flames early this morning. She says the immediate neighbor to the house was the person who called 911.
Leanna Glasper has lived in the neighborhood for 57 years. She is saddened by the passing of her neighbor whom she used to vacation with.
"Hope that he is having peace with the Lord because he was a very nice man. I didn't know anything that happened till I got up this morning. And it was very, it was upsetting to me. To know that it happened to him and I didn't know anything," she said.
It took three minutes for Beaumont Firefighters to respond to a neighbors calls to get to the corner of Amarillo Street and Bolivar Street.
Unable to get inside the home, firefighters fought from outside the trapped person's bedroom window.
Brooks says there was heavy fire coming from that area.
"They tried to make entry into the house and could not. The door was blocked. And they just went to the back door. And after a few minutes they just made it a defensive fire because of how much fire was in the house. The house was more that 50% consumed in fire," he said.
It took firefighters four hours to put out the flames.
Nova Watts says she's been neighbors with Teal since the 60s.
"He was a nice neighbor and if he could help you in any kind of way he would. And he stayed to himself mostly, after he retired. But if you passed their and he was sitting out their he would invite you to come along and talk to him," she said.
Overall every neighbor 12 news spoke with said they'll miss his kind spirit.
"I will miss him he was a good person in the community. He was well known, loved, and he was a caring person. And I will miss him tremendously. My condolence to the family." Carrial Roberts said.
As investigators search for the cause of the fire they want to remind you to double check your smoke detectors. You may also want to consider having a fire extinguisher at your house.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.