A fourth historic building in Miami Beach’s Collins Park went up in flames Wednesday – heightening alarm that the blazes are the work of arsonist.

Just a few hours after Miami Beach officials called a press conference to address fires that charred three historic buildings in less than a week, fire trucks rushed to the scene of another blaze Wednesday evening at 1817 James Ave.

Wednesday’s fire marked the fourth time firefighters have sped to the Collins Park neighborhood across from the bustling Miami Beach Convention Center and the Bass Museum to battle suspicious, raging fires in a historic district. The three previous fires burned near 20th Street.

Calls about Wednesday’s fire came in about 7:45 p.m., according to Marcos Osorio, assistant fire marshal for Key Biscayne.

Osorio said six Miami Beach fire units and two Miami fire units rushed to the building, which burned for about two hours, sending smoke billowing through the air and drawing crowds of tourists and residents. Flames shot out towards the adjacent James Towers and thick smoke billowed over the residential building, which residents said was evacuated.

Osorio said that like the previous three fires, the blaze at 1817 James Ave. likely started on an upper floor of the three story building.

But unlike the previous fires, the building was under active renovation and was under surveillance by a 24-hour security guard.

“The security guard was actually inside the building and didn’t hear anything,” said Assistant Police Chief Raymond Martinez.

Martinez said investigators have leads they are following, but no suspects or persons of interest as of Wednesday night.

He said police have thrown every available resource into keeping the neighborhood safe.

“Unfortunately we just weren’t at the right spot at the right time on this one,” he said.

Residents of Collins Park, and in particular nearby buildings, say they have endured a week of uncertainty and are worried that fire number five is on the horizon.

Even Mayor Matti Herrera Bower said she’s concerned that the fires appear to be increasing in frequency.

“It really is scary now,” she said.

City Manager Jorge Gonzalez stressed that though the fires have been frustrating, no one has been hurt and firefighters have responded quickly in every case.

“We’ve not had any injuries. We’ve not had anybody hurt,” he said.

In all three earlier cases, investigators say the fires began with open flames on the upper floors and at multiple locations, creating a blaze difficult to douse and so intense that crews — some arriving from a station just a few blocks away — were pushed out of the building interiors and forced to fight the fires from the outside.

Two of the buildings stand side-by-side, and all three are historic but abandoned apartment and hotel buildings. None of the buildings have power, ruling out the possibility of an electrical fire.

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