DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — Fifteen people were injured when a Brightline train hit a fire truck in downtown Delray Beach today (Dec. 28, 2024), splitting the ladder truck into two parts.
The collision occurred about 10:45 a.m. near East Atlantic and Railroad avenues in the South Florida community; Atlantic Avenue is the main thoroughfare through downtown, lined by restaurants and shopping. Three firefighters from the Delray Beach Fire Rescue truck have been hospitalized and are in stable condition, the City of Delray Beach said in a press release. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue assisted in the incident and transported 12 people from the train to the hospital with minor injuries.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, in a paywalled article, reports that Delray Beach Fire Rescue Chief Ronald Martin said two of the firefighters were transported as trauma alerts in serious condition. They are now stable but will “likely have prolonged admission at the hospital,” Martin said.
Passengers on the train were evacuated onto a new train shortly after 12:30 p.m., the newspaper reports.
Delray Beach police, the National Transportation Safety Board, and Brightline officials are investigating, the city said.
As of 4:30 p.m. CT, Brightline’s website indicates at least two trains have been cancelled this afternoon, with others showing delays of up to four hours. As of 7:45 p.m. CT, the company shows delays on upcoming southbound departures from Orlando and West Palm Beach. The company has posted video on X.com from the train’s forward-facing camera showing the moments before the collision with a message urging drivers to “never drive around crossing gates when they are down.”
— Updated at 8 p.m. CT with new information, including Brightline posting of on-train video.
Tragic collision between a fire truck and the brightline in Delray Beach. Apparently the firemen were responding to a car collision. Always sad how car culture and vehicular violence can cause compounding tragedy. pic.twitter.com/k4WKiImVZR
— Ethan Kent (@ebkent) December 28, 2024
The truck went around the gates as they were down on both sides. The fire truck driver stopped/slowed down to go around the other gate so as to not break it off.
He/She clearly did not see the Brightline train coming at all. They saw the EOT on the south bound freight and they went for it. I would surmise the co-worker in the right hand seat blocked the view of the oncoming train. The partner should have been calling out “all clear” or “not clear”, but was probably looking at the gate and oncoming cars.
Innocent until proven guilty, but that video is pretty self explanatory. They drove around the gates. In my opinion, (pending the investigation results) the City of Delray Beach owes a bundle.
I believe I recorded this accurately from the CBS Evening News: “The Fire Chief says that it’s unclear. The guard rails were down and maybe the train tried to go around the guard rails. In Florida, trains have the right of way, even when passing emergency vehicles.”
The media depend on interns paid ninety cents an hour. The interns report to a copy editor who works from home, meaning that he checks his e-mail once each morning and afternoon.
Reporters and editors on duty on Sundays are too often known for not being the best at their jobs.
Remember not too long ago when the Amtrak Crescent hit a fire truck at an unguarded crossing near Catlett, VA?
Read that the fire truck waited for a FEC freight then went ahead. Gates may have went up and then started down again. An old but deadly trap that will eventually come up in the investigations.
The sheet metal has been pushed back all the way to the front of the cab. Never seen that before in any of the previous wrecks. Also, damage to the coach body. As terrible as this is having the vehicle maintenance facility is a HUGE plus over trying to fix all this at the original running repair facility.
Have we forgotten the Detroit fire engine parked on the main and hit by Amtrak?
Maybe I am misinterpreting the photo, but it seems these are four-quadrant gates. How did they get through?
A First Responder ignores the crossing gates???????????????
Makes you wonder, don’t it? These guys should know better.