Delray Beach, FL, Aerial Driver Violated City, State Policies, Probe Shows

Three months after the crash between a Delray Beach Fire Rescue truck and a Brightline train, the city has released its investigation report that resulted in the termination of the veteran firefighter who was behind the wheel.

City Manager Terrence Moore announced on Thursday his decision to terminate driver-engineer David Wyatt after two investigations found he violated city policies and state traffic laws by driving the $1 million ladder truck onto the railroad tracks, directly into the path of a Brightline train, and by driving the city’s fire trucks for months with a suspended license before the crash, according to the investigation reports and Wyatt’s termination letter obtained by the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Monday.

The investigation of the Dec. 28 crash concluded on April 1. A separate investigation into firefighters driving city vehicles with suspended licenses concluded in February.

A total of 15 people were injured in the Dec. 28 crash, including Wyatt and his two passengers, firefighter Joseph Fiumara III and Capt. Brian Fiorey.

“On more than one occasion, your actions have jeopardized the safety of the public, something that I do not take lightly, leaving me with no other option than to terminate you,” Moore wrote in a termination letter to Wyatt, dated Thursday. “Your reckless actions have cost the taxpayers of Delray Beach millions of dollars. But, above all, your actions resulted in serious bodily injury to your colleagues and members of the public.”

Wyatt was hired more than 20 years ago and became a driver-engineer about 10 years ago.

Craig Mahoney, president of the fire department’s union IAFF Local 1842, in an email to Moore and city commissioners on Thursday asked that both sides agree to move forward into the arbitration process.

Wyatt will remain on paid administrative leave while the disciplinary process is pending, according to Moore’s termination letter.

Truck 111

There were mechanical issues that morning with the windshield wipers of the fire truck that would soon be destroyed, the investigation report showed.

Wyatt drove the fire truck, Truck 111, to the city garage just before 8:30 a.m., but a worker wasn’t able to fix the malfunctioning wipers. Fleet Manager Andrew Rayfield said the wipers “were a safety concern, and the truck would need to come out of service,” the report said.

One of the battalion chiefs was notified that morning that the fire truck would be removed from service. He came to the city garage to pick up Wyatt and have him swap to a different, spare ladder truck from Station 114, according to the report.

Wyatt later returned to Station 111 in the spare ladder truck. Moments later, the alarm sounded for an apartment building fire in the 300 block of Southeast 6th Avenue. The crew loaded into Truck 111, the one that had been removed from service because of the wipers. It is unclear why they took Truck 111 rather than the other spare ladder truck, the report said.

Apartment fire

Wyatt, Fiorey and Fiumara III left Station 111 in Truck 111 at 10:39 a.m., according to the report.

At 10:42 a.m., command staff relayed over dispatch that it may have been related to burning food on the second floor of the apartment building. Less than a minute later, Truck 111 communicated they were delayed by a train, the report said.

When Wyatt approached the railroad tracks, the guardrail arms were down and the warning lights were flashing, the report said. Cars were stopped in front of the fire truck in the eastbound lane, so Wyatt maneuvered into the opposite lanes of Southeast First Street and waited for a freight train to pass the intersection.

“It was D/E Wyatt’s intention to get ahead of the cars that were stopped in the eastbound lane once the train passed,” the report said.

But Wyatt didn’t see the Brightline train coming from the opposite direction of the freight train that had just passed. He drove around the still-lowered, flashing gates at 10:44 a.m., the report said.

Brightline says fire-rescue truck at fault in Delray Beach crash that injured at least 15 | Video

The Brightline train smashed into the truck at 79 mph, slicing Truck 111 into three separate pieces, according to the report. Pieces of the destroyed truck were strewn on opposite sides of the tracks.

Someone called 911 reporting the crash at nearly the exact same moment the crew was called off from the reported apartment fire.

‘Not the first time’

Wyatt told independent investigator Erin Jackson, of Johnson Jackson PLLC, that he remembered approaching the railroad crossing on his way to the call, where cars were stopped in the eastbound lanes.

He said he didn’t remember whether the gates were lowered or if the lights were flashing, but he did remember that he intentionally drove into the opposite lanes of the road so he could get ahead of the cars after the freight train passed, according to the report.

He said he had no memory of seeing the Brightline train coming toward them on the track and no memory of the actual collision.

“Notably, Wyatt explained that this is not the first time that he has positioned a fire truck into the lane of oncoming traffic and then maneuvered around the cars to pass through the train track,” the report said. “He does not recall how many times he has done this but says ‘not very often.'”

Wyatt said he had previously rode in fire trucks with other firefighters driving who “maneuvered around other cars and crossed the railroad tracks after a train had passed,” the report said. He recalled that happening about 10 times, he said. But he said he didn’t recall whether in those instances, the driver went around lowered guard gates.

Fiorey was sitting in the front passenger seat when the train violently crashed into the truck.

“His last memory before the collision was turning onto SE Swinton Avenue from Atlantic Boulevard,” the report said. “His first memory post-crash was in the trauma bay at the hospital.”

Fiorey told the investigator that their policy requires a fire engine to stop for guardrails at a crossing and communicate the train delay.

“If safe to do so, the fire engine takes a front position on the traffic just to make sure that once the gate goes up, the fire engine is the first one through,” the report said, summarizing Fiorey’s statement. “Under no circumstances is a fire engine to maneuver around guardrails that are down at a railroad crossing.”

Fiumara was sitting in the back left passenger seat. He was putting on his gear when the crew first stopped at the railroad tracks and remembered that the guardrails were lowered, the report said. After the crash, he helped pull Wyatt, who was “very concussed,” from the truck.

Delray police launch review of 2023 off-duty accident involving driver of fire truck in Brightline crash | Video

“Firefighter Fiumara does not recall ever being in any other fire engine that maneuvered around a railroad crossing guard gate that was down,” the report said.

‘I’ve never seen it’

The investigation found that Wyatt violated three city policies and two Florida traffic laws in the Dec. 28 crash. Wyatt had received required training, including to follow all traffic laws and “not to take unnecessary chances.”

Earlier this year, Wyatt was issued a noncriminal traffic citation after a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office investigation.

“His decision to navigate into oncoming traffic at a railroad crossing and maneuver around guardrails demonstrates his reckless disregard for the safety of life and property and a clear lapse in adherence to safety protocols and statutory requirements,” the investigation report concluded. “He failed to obey traffic laws of the State of Florida. He failed to avoid taking unnecessary chances. He failed to ensure the safety of all personnel riding on the apparatus. He failed to operate the vehicle with due regard for others at all times.”

The investigator found no evidence that Fiumara violated any policies or laws. In Fiorey’s case, the investigator could not determine whether his actions violated any policies or laws.

Though the passenger is responsible for assisting the driver-engineer, “there is no testimony in the record as to whether there was a violation in this incident,” the investigator wrote in the conclusion.

Wyatt’s actions that day “were not in conformity to any trainings or policies” of the city, the investigator found, quoting Fiorey: “I’ve never seen it. I’ve never been asked to do it. I’ve never ordered it … This is not standard operation for our Department at all.”