By Shira Moolten
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — The driver of a Delray Beach fire truck that crashed with a Brightline train in December received a noncriminal traffic citation following a recently completed Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office investigation.
David Michael Wyatt, 46, drove across the tracks despite the flashing lights and downed crossing gates on Dec. 28, “unaware of the Brightline train,” the Sheriff’s Office report states. He and two other firefighters had been responding to a call about a fire in an apartment, but had not been cleared from the call until after the crash took place, according to the report, which was completed in early February.
The report concludes that, though the fire truck was still responding to an emergency, Wyatt failed to use “due care” in that he “did not identify the oncoming Brightline train as he drove V-1 onto its path.”
The crash injured 15 people, including 12 train passengers and 3 firefighters transported as trauma alerts. Nine of the train passengers, including the engineer and conductor, were hospitalized, according to the report. One of the two firefighter passengers, Captain Brian Fiorey, suffered serious injury to his leg, requiring him to get a metal rod implanted into his bone. The other firefighter, Joseph Fiumara III, had non-incapacitating injuries.
Delray Beach Police had already investigated the crash, but Chief Russ Mager asked PBSO to do an independent investigation to ensure it was impartial.
The fire truck had been dispatched to an apartment fire about 10:30 a.m., according to the report. As the firefighters headed towards the fire, Wyatt notified dispatch about a delay due to a freight train on the tracks at Southeast First Street. He turned the siren off, but kept the truck’s emergency lights on, as he waited for the train to go by. Seconds after it passed, about 10:45 a.m., he drove the truck across the tracks, despite the lowered gates and flashing red warning lights.
The Brightline train engineer, Richard Adkison, saw the truck and applied the emergency brakes, but it was too late; the train had been approaching at close to 80 miles per hour.
“The train did slow, but was unable to avoid the impending hazard,” the report states.
The front of the train crashed into the passenger rear tires of the truck, splitting it into three pieces.
The report concluded that Wyatt was still responding to an emergency at the time of the crash, a question that has come up repeatedly over the months since. A dispatcher had called firefighters off, according to radio recordings the city shared last month, but it had remained unclear whether that occurred before or after Wyatt drove onto the tracks.
“A review of the Fire Rescue CAD report revealed the firefighters had been cleared from the call, but only after this crash had occurred; therefore, they were still lawfully proceeding to an emergency call,” the report states.
The fact that Wyatt was still responding to an emergency, the report continued, gave him certain freedoms provided to first responders under Florida law, though it does not clear him of the responsibility of “due care.”
The report cites a Florida statute that allows fire trucks to “proceed past a red or stop signal or stop sign, but only after slowing down as may be necessary for safe operation” and “disregard regulations governing direction or movement or turning in specified directions, so long as the driver does not endanger life or property.”
However, the statute adds, “the foregoing provisions shall not relieve the driver … from the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons, nor shall such provisions protect the driver from the consequences of his or her reckless disregard for the safety of others.”
“(Wyatt) was allowed to operate V-1 in the manner in which it was being operated; however, he did not use ‘due care’ in that he did not identify the oncoming Brightline train as he drove V-1 into its path,” the report concludes.
The citation Wyatt received requires a court appearance. A pre-trial hearing is set for March 12.
In addition to the Sheriff’s Office’s investigation, the Delray Beach Police Department is investigating its handling of a previous crash involving Wyatt, who was off-duty at the time and received a citation for careless driving. The fire department also launched an internal investigation related to the status of fire department personnel’s driver’s licenses, placing four staff members, including Wyatt, on leave.
A city of Delray Beach spokeswoman did not immediately respond to questions over the status of those investigations or what discipline Wyatt may receive now that the PBSO investigation is complete.
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