Investigators determine cause of fire that destroyed Jack the Bike Man warehouse in West Palm
City authorities announced Friday, Feb. 21 an investigation had revealed the massive fire, in an unused warehouse owned by a venerable local bicycle charity, 'originated in the electrical control panel inside the building.'
From there, they said, it spread up the century-old building's south wall and ignited Dade County pine in the ceiling.
The fire was reported about 4 a.m. Wednesday at a 20,000-square-foot warehouse near Belvedere Road and South Dixie Highway owned by Jack The Bike Man, a nonprofit that provides bicycles to underprivileged children.
It burned for more than eight hours as dozens of firefighters battled to control it, buffeting surrounding neighborhoods with smoke and briefly interrupting train service along the Florida East Coast Railway tracks that run alongside the building.
The building, at 426 Claremore Drive, was not in use and being sold for $4.5 million.
MORE: Traffic relief coming to West Palm Beach's busiest road, but it could take a while
The charity operates out of a smaller building next to the warehouse and had been hoping to use proceeds from its sale to buy a permanent base for its bicycle donation and repair operations.
Dade County Pine is native to South Florida but was harvested as far north as Georgia and Alabama. It is a subspecies of Longleaf Southern Yellow Pine and is a high-demand construction material in Florida because it is sturdy, dense, and highly resistant to decay and insect damage.
However, the wood can be susceptible to fires. Many Florida homes in the late 1800s and early 1900s were built with Dade County Pine. Many of Florida's historic buildings were built with antique Dade County Pine flooring and beams, including The Bonnet House in Fort Lauderdale and the Key West Lighthouse, according to Albany Woodworks, which is a supplier of the wood.
Andrew Marra is a reporter at The Palm Beach Post. Reach him at amarra@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: West Palm Beach: Warehouse fire caused by electrical panel
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