A fire tore through JAX Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery on Beach Boulevard near San Pablo Road South in Jacksonville, and the blast was strong enough that people in a nearby neighborhood said they felt it inside their own homes. Multiple Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department crews swarmed the scene as the clinic burned, and fire investigators had not identified what caused the building to catch fire as of publication.
The oral surgery center sits at the southwest corner of Beach Boulevard and San Pablo Road South, according to News4JAX, a stretch of the corridor that carries tens of thousands of vehicles daily and anchors nearby retail hubs including Intracoastal Plaza, per LoopNet. Florida corporate filings show the practice was incorporated in 2004 as JAXOMS, P.A. by Dr. Zane Khan, who still serves as its registered agent and primary surgeon, with the primary facility located at 14453 Beach Blvd., Suite 101. It is not yet known whether anyone was inside the building when the fire and explosion occurred, or whether the blast neighbors reported feeling was tied to any of the compressed medical gases used inside the clinic.
What Investigators Still Don't Know
As of publication, fire investigators had not identified what led the building to catch fire, the station's report notes. That leaves open the central question hanging over the case: whether the explosive force neighbors described was connected to onsite medical gas infrastructure. Outpatient oral surgery clinics like JAXOMS routinely store oxygen and nitrous oxide for sedation, systems governed by strict state and federal rules precisely because of their fire risk.
Florida oral surgeons administering general anesthesia, moderate sedation, or nitrous oxide must hold specific state permits and maintain specialized emergency equipment under Rule 64B5-14 of the Florida Administrative Code and Chapter 466 of Florida Statutes, according to the Florida Board of Dentistry. Those systems also fall under the National Fire Protection Association's NFPA 99 Health Care Facilities Code, which sets strict standards for medical gas storage and delivery to limit fire and explosion risk in outpatient settings, per the American Society of Safety Professionals. Federal OSHA rules under 29 CFR 1910.101 separately require that compressed gas cylinders in surgical facilities be secured upright and shielded from physical damage or heat sources capable of triggering ignition.
State Fire Marshal Could Join the Investigation
Because the incident involves a commercial structure with significant property damage and the possibility of compressed gas complications, Florida law allows the State Fire Marshal's Bureau of Fire, Arson, and Explosives Investigations to assist JFRD in determining cause and origin, under Florida Statute 633.112. That state bureau fielded more than 2,600 requests for investigative assistance in 2025 alone, covering incidents tied to nearly $211 million in property damage statewide, according to the Florida Department of Financial Services. It remains unclear whether state investigators have been called in on the Beach Boulevard fire specifically.
This is not the first time JFRD has battled a medical building fire along this same stretch of road. In April, crews responded to a pre-dawn clinic fire at a medical facility on Beach Boulevard between Ryar Road and Dean Road, shutting down eastbound lanes during the morning commute before containing the blaze within 25 minutes, according to Action News Jax. Explosions carry their own hazards for firefighters, as underscored by a 2020 cargo ship blast at JAXPORT that injured 11 Jacksonville firefighters and led to a multimillion-dollar settlement finalized in September 2024, per WOKV.
The San Pablo Road corridor near the clinic recently underwent significant infrastructure upgrades, with the Jacksonville Transportation Authority completing a multi-year widening project between Beach Boulevard and Atlantic Boulevard in January 2025 aimed at improving traffic flow and emergency access. For now, the cause of the fire and the source of the explosive force neighbors reported remain unresolved, with JFRD's investigation ongoing.
