Four veteran Delray Beach firefighters on leave after ladder truck collision with train

DELRAY BEACH — Four Delray Beach Fire Rescue employees with a combined 77 years of experience as city firefighters are on administrative leave following a dramatic crash on Dec. 28 where their ladder truck was hit by a Brightline train in a busy area of downtown Delray Beach.

Assistant Chief Kevin Green, Division Chief Todd Lynch, Captain Brian Fiorey, and Driver Engineer David Wyatt will be paid while on leave, according to a public announcement Friday night from Delray Beach Fire Chief Ronald Martin.

Martin’s statement does not make clear which of the men was responsible for driving the fire truck, nor does he say which three were injured in the crash.

The crossing gates were lowered and the fire truck was straddling the tracks when the high-speed train approached, according to a video of the collision released by Brightline.

“Railroad safety is a community wide effort,” Brightline said in a post accompanying the video footage on X. “For everyone’s safety, never drive around crossing gates when they are down.”

Twelve Brightline passengers were injured in the collision, which occurred around 10:45 a.m. Dec. 28 along the Florida East Coast Railway tracks a block south of East Atlantic Avenue, across the tracks from the Delray Beach Market food hall.

Delray Beach Fire Rescue is investigating the crash to determine whether its employees followed department policy in the moments leading up to the crash.

“This is the time to examine where we might have fallen short in the past and make the tough decisions needed to ensure we don’t continue to do so,” Martin wrote in his statement Friday. “I am committed to implementing meaningful changes to strengthen our operations and taking the necessary steps to uphold the integrity of our department.”

Delray Beach Fire Rescue employs 200

Delray Beach Fire Rescue has an annual budget of about $48 million, according to the city’s proposed budget materials for 2025.

The department employs around 200 people, including those working as firefighters, administrators, and ocean rescue personnel. Overall, budget materials show the city owns 28 fire-rescue vehicles, including ladder trucks and other trucks.

The four firefighters now on leave represent a wealth of experience with Delray Beach Fire Rescue:

• Public records show Assistant Chief Kevin Green, 67, has been with the department for 13 years. He previously worked for West Palm Beach Fire Rescue for 28 years after being certified as a firefighter in 1984.

• Division Chief Todd Lynch, 53, has worked for Delray Beach Fire Rescue for 25 years. He formerly worked for Tequesta Fire Rescue after first being certified as a firefighter in 1997, public records show.

• Captain Brian Fiorey, 40, has worked for Delray Beach Fire Rescue for all 19 years of his career, according to public records.

• Driver Engineer David Wyatt, 46, has worked for the department for 20 years after his professional certification in 2004. He was certified as a volunteer firefighter in 1992, public records show.

The crash left one of the city’s ladder trucks destroyed, but the department has two or three other ladder trucks it can rely on when aerial ladders are needed, said retired Delray Beach Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Kevin Saxton.

Witnesses describe Brightline train crash

Witnesses to the crash described pandemonium in a usually lively part of Delray Beach, where pedestrians and vehicles frequently cross over train tracks to access the plethora of bars, restaurants and shops around East Atlantic Avenue.

Jordan Kotellos, a barback at Throw Social on Southeast Second Avenue, said he heard a bang when the train and truck collided. He ran out the bar’s rear door to encounter a chaotic scene just a few steps past the rear parking lot.

The ladder truck lay on its side, split in two. One of the three firefighters had been flung from the truck and lay in the grass bleeding, he said.

“One guy got thrown,” he said. “It was hard to see, man. It was terrible.”

It wasn’t his first time witnessing a train collision in the downtown area. In March, he said, he was working in a nearby bar when a woman standing on the tracks was struck and killed by a Brightline train.

At least five people have been killed this year in Palm Beach County in collisions with Brightline trains. Two of those incidents occurred along the same stretch of tracks in downtown Delray Beach where last Saturday’s crash occurred.

Palm Beach Post staff writer Andrew Marra contributed to this report.

Katherine Kokal is a journalist covering education at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at kkokal@pbpost.com. Help support our work; subscribe today!

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Delray Beach firefighters on leave after truck crash with Brightline

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