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With the cooler winter weather comes an increase in home fires and area fire departments are keeping busy.
Nov. 24, the body of an 83-year-old woman was found after a fire destroyed a home in Groves. The blaze happened about 3 p.m. in the 6600 block of Madison Avenue, reported the Groves Fire Department.
The woman was later identified as Norma Cole, according to Jefferson County Pct. 2 Justice of the Peace Joseph Guillory II, who also ordered an autopsy on the deceased.
Fire Chief Lance Billeaud reported a preliminary investigation suggests the fire could have started as an electrical fire.
They were assisted by the Port Neches Fire Department and Nederland Fire Department, along with Acadian Ambulance.
A Nov. 26 fire left eight people displaced after fire destroyed their home in Port Arthur. The Port Arthur Fire Department responded to the fire about 11 p.m. at a home in the 4000 block of Lakeshore Drive.
Heavy smoke and fire was reported coming from the front and back of the house.
No injuries were reported.
Nov. 23, a Sour Lake family lost their home from a grease fire from smoking turkeys overnight. The home on State Highway 326 housed 10 people. It also destroyed two vehicles, but several pets survived the blaze.
It took the Sour Lake Fire Department more than an hour and a half to extinguish the blaze.
A GoFundMe account has been set up for the Lerma family.
An early morning mobile home fire on Nov. 28 left a family homeless.
Elgin Browning of the Bridge City Volunteer Fire and Rescue reported his department was sent to the fire on Herrington Road in Orangefield.
No one in the home was injured and residents are being assisted by the Red Cross.
Orange County ESD No. 1 and the Orange Fire Department assisted while the Groves FD filled in at the Bridge City Volunteer Fire and Rescue station.