Train collides with fire truck in Florida; police say 3 firefighters and several passengers hurt

A collision between a high-speed passenger train and a fire truck on Saturday morning in Florida left three firefighters and multiple train passengers injured, authorities said.

The crash happened at 10:45 a.m. in crowded downtown Delray Beach, multiple news outlets reported. The Brightline train was stopped on the tracks, its front destroyed about a block away from the Delray Beach Fire Rescue truck, its ladder ripped off and strewn in the grass several yards away, The Sun-Sentinel reported.

The Delray Beach Fire Rescue said in a social media post that three Delray Beach firefighters were in stable condition at a local hospital. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue transported 12 people from the train to the hospital with minor injuries.

Brightline officials didn’t immediately respond to an email inquiry Saturday afternoon.

A spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board said that agency is still gathering information about Saturday’s Brightline crash and hasn’t decided yet whether it will investigate.

The NTSB is already investigating two crashes involving Brightline’s high speed trains that killed three people at the same crossing early this year along the railroad’s route between Miami and Orlando.

More than 100 people have died after being hit by trains since Brightline began operations in July 2017 — giving the railroad the worst death rate in the nation. But most of those deaths have been either suicides, pedestrians who tried to run across the tracks ahead of the train or drivers who went around crossing gates instead of waiting for a train to pass. Brightline hasn’t been found to be at fault in those previous deaths.

Railroad safety has been a concern since a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, in February 2023, spilling toxic chemicals that caught fire. Regulators urged the industry to improve safety and members of Congress proposed a package of reforms, but railroads haven’t made many major changes to their operations and the bill has stalled.

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Associated Press writers Josh Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska, and Chevel Johnson contributed from New Orleans.