One Killed By Tri-Rail In Boca Raton, Did Fire Rescue Radio Hamper Response?

SOURCES: New Palm Beach County Fire Radio Policy Thwarted Communication Between Broward and Boca Raton Rescuers.

IRONY: Palm Beach County Causing Problem It Claims To Be Trying To Avoid.

BY: ANDREW COLTON | Editor and Publisher

UPDATE AT 2:44 p.m. — BocaNewsNow.com received this exceptionally short statement from Boca Raton Fire Chief Jon Treanor: “Boca Raton Fire Rescue responded to a fatality accident late last night involving a train.”

UPDATE AT 12:45 p.m. Saturday, December 9, 2023 — More than twelve hours after the incident, Boca Raton Fire Rescue is still not providing details of the incident or its response. Two messages to Chief John Treanor have gone unanswered.

BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2023 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — One person was apparently killed late Friday night after being struck by a Tri-Rail train east of Military Trail at SW 18th Street in Boca Raton. While the victim may have been beyond saving regardless of response time, the focus is now on Palm Beach County Fire Radio policy that some say is hampering emergency responses like this one.

Broward County dispatchers received the call of a Tri-Rail incident, which was believed to be in North Broward County, around 10:50 p.m. That call was immediately transmitted to first responders on Broward County’s dispatch system. First responders combed the area north of the Pompano Beach Tri-Rail station, searching for the scene. Within minutes, it became clear that the Tri-Rail train was north of the Broward County line and in Boca Raton.

But Broward County rescuers, according to sources and through audio provided to BocaNewsNow.com, couldn’t reach Boca Raton Fire Rescue on the department’s emergency radio frequencies. The situation was so bad that a Broward County firefighter actually called Boca Raton Police, on a phone, to determine if anyone from Boca Raton was responding.

While the phone call was made, and presumably as Boca Raton Fire Rescue ultimately responded, a Broward County fire dispatcher attempted to create a shared “tactical channel” with Boca Raton Fire Rescue but couldn’t, leaving two neighboring agencies unable to communicate instantly over their two-way radios. No one had any idea who was on the scene, what the scene revealed, whether there was a viable patient, or other vital information.

Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, now a third separate agency, also apparently knew nothing. It finally got involved and dispatched its own rescuers — but not until nearly 15 minutes after Broward County first learned of the train incident. Dispatch logs shared with BocaNewsNow.com suggest it took upwards of 20 minutes for first responders to actually reach a victim, and it remained unclear early Saturday morning which agency actually took the lead. There is no record of a victim being transported to an area hospital.

Those familiar with the situation say Palm Beach County’s new policy of “scrambling” radio channels is hampering South Florida rescues, creating problems when multiple agencies are involved in an emergency response. Palm Beach County, in a bizarre claim, says the State of Florida ordered emergency responders to “encrypt” their radio communication so hackers and terrorists couldn’t thwart emergency responses. But Palm Beach County is the only South Florida agency now scrambling its communication and actually causing the problem that it was trying to prevent. Other agencies are being thwarted from knowing who is doing what, where. Shared radio frequencies are no longer working as expected, according to sources, who say the ‘scrambling’ is for show but provides no benefit whatsoever.

Neither Boca Raton Fire Chief John Treanor, nor Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, responded to a request for information late Friday night.