HUGE RESPONSE… FIRE RESCUE… POLICE… HOT ZONE…
UPDATE: Palm Beach County Fire Rescue just issued this update at 6:30 p.m. — “At approximately 3:35 p.m., Palm Beach County Fire Rescue responded to a hazardous conditions call about 20 minutes west of U.S. 27, and about 10 miles south of South Bay. The 911 caller said a dump truck struck an industrial nuclear density gauge used in construction. Once on scene, crews identified the device, conducted radiation monitoring, and confirmed there was damage to the gauge’s outer protective housing.
A precautionary safety perimeter was maintained, while specialized resources responded. Just after 5:30, the scene was turned over to the Florida Department of Health Bureau of Radiation Control, who is responsible for containment and recovery. There were no patient transports, and at no time was there a danger to the general public. Industrial density gauges are commonly used in construction and are specifically designed to limit radiation exposure even under extreme conditions.”
PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2026 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — Palm Beach County Fire Rescue and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office are on the scene as of 5 p.m. of some sort of a radiological incident that was first reported around 3:30 Wednesday afternoon.
While we are awaiting official details from Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, initial information shared with BocaNewsNow.com indicates that a construction worker came into contact with some sort of a container that was emitting radiation. Initial tests on the container confirmed that radiation was present and a “hot zone” was established.
The construction worker is being evaluated for radiation exposure. Rescuers and police are said to be keeping their distance until teams trained to deal with this sort of situation arrive on the scene and deal with the situation.
The location is U.S. 27 south of Lake Okeechobee, just south of Belle Glade. Again, we stress this is preliminary information and we will update once we receive an official report from Fire Rescue.
