19-02-2025
Fire breaks out in building along South Dixie in West Palm, filling neighborhood with smoke
(This story has been updated with new information)
WEST PALM BEACH — A fire broke out early Wednesday in a building just south of downtown West Palm Beach, sending plumes of smoke into the air visible from Interstate 95.
City officials placed the fire on the 400 block of Claremore Drive, near South Dixie Highway and the Flamingo Park neighborhood north of Belvedere Road.
The fire closed Dixie to vehicle traffic in both directions "until further notice" and briefly interrupted traffic along the Federal East Coast Railway tracks.
City officials also urged those with respiratory problems to stay indoors until the air clears near the area of the fire.
The area includes residential and commercial properties and occupants have all been evacuated and are safe. That includes the nearby Greene School, a Pre-K through 12th grade school that several precautions to keep students safe, including shutting down AC units that would draw in smoke.
The smoke, which could be seen for miles, still hovered closer to the ground because of an early morning meteorological phenomenon called an inversion. A lack of overnight breezes allowed cooler air to settle closer to Earth with warmer air rising. That capped how high the smoke could rise in the sky until winds picked up to start mixing the layers of the atmosphere and obliterate the air-blocking dam.
"The inversion isn't allowing the smoke to rise much and that's why it's just very slowly moving north because there are very light breezes out of the southwest," said National Weather Service meteorologist Sammy Hadi, who is in the Miami forecast office. " said "It's quite common in the morning and the same kind of ingredients that lead to fog."
Hadi said we would normally be able to see the fire from the Terminal Doppler radar at Palm Beach International Airport but it was down for service on Wednesday. Hadi said that's common outside of hurricane season.
This is a breaking story. Check back to for updates.
Staff Writer Kimberly Miller contributed to this report.
Tom Elia is an editor at The Palm Beach Post, overseeing coverage of public safety, the courts and Palm Beach County's northern and western communities. You can reach him at telia@ Support local journalism: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Fire breaks out in building along South Dixie in West Palm Beach
