Firefighters control a a fire that started in an abandoned warehouse at Jefferson Street and Dixie Highway on Thursday.

A fire at an abandoned warehouse on Dixie Highway shut down parts of the road Thursday afternoon as it threatened a nearby chlorine storage tank.

The fire at Jefferson Street and Dixie Highway was reported at 2:34 p.m., and firefighters had it under control within about half an hour, said Martin County Assistant Chief Joseph Ferrara.

Hazardous-materials crews responded as a precaution, but the chlorine tank was not affected by the fire.

Dixie Highway was closed between Jefferson Street and Hawthorne Street.

No injuries were reported. Fire investigators were at the scene, working to determine the cause.

Two firefighters arrested Tuesday on charges of growing marijuana for sale are no longer employed by the St. Lucie County Fire District.

One resigned and one was fired, according to Catherine Chaney, district spokeswoman.

Firefighter and emergency medical technician Herman Michael Gonzalez, 36, of Palm City had posted a $105,000 bond after his arrest for operating the third largest grow house to be raided in Martin County in the past 10 years. It was in a rental warehouse in the Tropical Farms area of unincorporated Martin County.

To see video inside the grow house, click here

Edward J. Nobles II, 37, of Fort Pierce, a firefighter-engineer, was arrested based on information obtained after Gonzalez’s arrest. He was found to being growing marijuana at his home. He posted $10,000 bond and was released by the St. Lucie County Jail. Investigators did not say how or if the two men are connected.

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By ANA X. CERON AND KATHLEEN CHAPMAN

Two St. Lucie County firefighters were arrested Tuesday on felony charges that they were raising marijuana to sell.

Herman Gonzalez

Herman Michael Gonzalez, a nine-year veteran of the St. Lucie County Fire District, was arrested outside the commercial warehouse in western Martin County where, officials said, dozens of pot plants with a total street value of $400,000 were growing under hot lights.

Gonzalez, 36, faces felony charges of marijuana cultivation and trafficking more than 25 pounds of the drug. He was being held in the Martin County jail Tuesday on $105,000 bail.

Later Tuesday, the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at a shed in Fort Pierce run by a second firefighter, Edward Joseph Nobles. There, they found four marijuana plants, a grow light, and more than 100 seedlings. According to the arrest affidavit, Nobles, 37, admitted that he was growing the plants to make extra money.

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INDIANTOWN — No one was injured in a fire that evacuated a shuttered tile company warehouse in Indiantown this morning.

The fire was reported to Martin County Fire Rescue official at about 10:35 a.m. and was under control a half-hour later, Fire Rescue spokesman Jon Belding said.

The fire was contained to a warehouse at Entegra Tile Production at 15700 S.W. Farm Road. Four construction workers at the site had to evacuate the warehouse as a result of the fire, Belding said. (more…)