Palm Coast Fire Police’s Steven Brooks Critically Injured by Passing Car as He Worked Seminole Woods Crash

Last Updated: 12:40 p.m.

Palm Coast Fire Police member Steven Brooks was on duty, securing a crash site in Seminole Woods late Tuesday afternoon, when he was struck by a passing car and critically injured. He was flown to Halifax hospital in Daytona Beach, where he remains in critical but stable condition, according to Pam Coast Fire Chief Kyle Berryhill.

Fire police members assist first responders at emergencies, regulating traffic and ensuring that responders can operate safely.




The Seminole Woods incident was reported at 4:57 p.m. after a vehicle struck a motorized scooter at the intersection of Seminole Woods Boulevard and Sesame Boulevard (the north intersection of the Sesame loop). The person on the scooter was injured and transported to a local hospital. The crash involving Brooks, who is 82, was reported at 5:24 p.m. He suffered four broken bones and internal injuries, the chief said.

“We do a lot to promote visibility for our fire police,” Berryhill said. “They’re first responders that are in a situation that’s become pretty hazardous to first responders, which is interacting with folks as they’re trying to move about in their vehicles.”

The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and Florida Highway Patrol were at the scene. “I don’t have a report from FHP, or anything of that nature that says if someone was at fault or not,” the fire chief said in an early morning interview. “I can tell you that it was the time of day where the sun is blindingly bright as I was pulling on the scene. It was something that I noticed. So I don’t want to make excuses. What I’d really like is for our community to take even more care as they’re moving in and around these emergency scenes. I know that they care about the first responders in Flagler County and Palm Coast. Just slow down and take a minute to be prepared.”

The driver of the vehicle stayed at the scene and cooperated with law enforcement. The chief said there appeared to be no “evidence of bad acting” on the driver’s part. Brooks was working just inside the intersection, preventing left turns onto Sesame.




Brooks is a retired railroad man who served for over 22 years as a volunteer fireman in Beaver County, Utah, rising to assistant chief. He had also volunteered for the Flagler County Sheriff’s Citizen Observer Patrol known as COP.

“He’s really good man. You don’t like to see your your team’s blood on the ground, and we saw it yesterday,” Berryhill said during a late-morning press conference at Fire Station 21. “But luckily, we believe that there’s a ton of hope about Steven’s condition, and we’re going to go see him in a little bit. And so we’re really lucky to have members like that, and to have our fire police corps that protect our responders every day who are in harm’s way, consistently out in these vehicle areas.”

Brooks is part of a 13-member Fire Police team at the city’s fire department. The crews respond only to emergencies within the city. On Wednesday, he was one of four fire police members at the Seminole Woods scene, later increased to six. Berryhill said over the years training protocols for fire police members have fluctuated. “My understanding is that we continue to train on a regular basis,” Berryhill said.




Responders at emergency scenes, including tow operators, face significant hazards. In 2024, at least 46 responders were killed while on duty at road-incident scenes, including 26 law enforcement officers, three firefighters or associated services, and 12 tow operators, according to Respondersafety, a website that maintains an annual database of responder fatalities.

Berryhill said all responders treated the incident “as if it was part of their family.” Palm Coast’s Engine 29, Fire Police Chief 22, Battalion 25, Battalion 20 and the chief responded. Flagler County Fire Rescue’s Engine 16, Engine 62, Rescue 25, Rescue 92, Rescue 62 FireFlight all responded, as did the department’s training chief and training lieutenant.