4 Delray Beach Fire Rescue staff placed on leave after fire truck crash with Brightline train

Shira Moolten, South Florida Sun Sentinel on Jan 4, 2025

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Four Delray Beach Fire Rescue employees, including top brass, have been placed on administrative leave with pay after a Brightline train smashed into a fire truck last Saturday.

Assistant Chief Kevin Green, Division Chief Todd Lynch, Captain Brian Fiorey, and Driver Engineer David Wyatt are all on leave “pending the results of an internal administrative investigation to determine if City and Fire Rescue policies and procedures were followed,” Fire Chief Ronald Martin said in a statement.

“This action is consistent with City policy and a procedural step as we review the facts,” the statement continued. “The administrative investigation is necessary to ensure accountability and uphold the trust of our community.”

Green and Lynch are listed on the Delray Beach Fire Rescue website under “senior staff.” The work histories and salaries of the four men were unavailable late Friday.

Ted White, a spokesperson for Delray Beach Fire Rescue, said that not all of those on leave were in the fire truck that day but did not provide further details. Martin’s statement did not elaborate on why the people listed are specifically under investigation.

The announcement came nearly a week after the Delray Beach Fire Rescue truck crashed with a Brightline train on Dec. 28 in the city’s downtown.

Three firefighters and 12 Brightline passengers were hospitalized after the crash. The train passengers had minor injuries. Two of the firefighters had serious injuries, but were stable immediately following the crash. Their conditions as of late Friday were unavailable.

Shortly after the crash, Brightline released a video showing the truck on the tracks and saying Fire Rescue was at fault.

“The truck is in the wrong lane, driving around cars that are stopped at the lowered gate,” Brightline said after the crash in a statement to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

The city of Delray Beach still has not responded to questions over whether the fire truck was responding to an emergency. Martin said the day of the crash that a “concurrent call” was out at the time of the crash but did not say if they were on their way to the call or leaving from it. The city has also not released 911 calls or body worn camera footage of the collision’s aftermath, citing the open investigation.

“All public safety agencies carry an immense responsibility,” Martin said in Friday’s statement. “I remain fully committed to learning from this incident, strengthening our procedures, and ensuring our firefighters have the training and resources needed to protect Delray Beach safely and effectively.

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. I am committed to implementing meaningful changes to strengthen our operations and taking the necessary steps to uphold the integrity of our department.”