A 20-year-old firefighter is back home recovering after being critically injured when his fire engine rolled several times while he was responding to an emergency call in Florida.
The firefighter was headed to a call in north Okaloosa County on Friday, Nov. 28, when the fire engine overturned multiple times on County Road 2 near James Peaden Road, according to FOX affiliate WALA and Get The Coast.
The man, from Baker, was alone in the truck at the time of the crash and had to be airlifted to a hospital in Wright, the outlets reported. Authorities later released dramatic photos from the scene through the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, which responded to the crash.
After the accident, the Blackman Fire District confirmed that the injured man was one of its firefighters.
“Although the scene of the accident was one that words cannot even express, we can advise that based on information we have received, everything is looking good thus far,” the Baker-based department shared on social media that evening.
The Florida Highway Patrol, which is leading the investigation, along with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office and the Blackman Fire District, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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By Saturday, Nov. 29, the Blackman Fire District shared an update written by the firefighter’s mother, who identified her son as Dalton and thanked the many people who stepped in to help. She noted that a registered nurse and another individual reached the scene shortly after the “horrific accident” and played a key role in saving his life. She also expressed gratitude to the local fire department for supporting her family.
“Yesterday, as a momma, I was truly blessed and humbled by their outpouring of love,” she wrote, adding that when her family arrived at the hospital, members of the fire department were lined up waiting for them — “Almost like a body of armor protecting us from everything.”
On Sunday, Nov. 30, the Blackman Fire District announced that Dalton had been released from the hospital the previous day and was welcomed home by his loved ones.
“He is also being closely checked on by his fire department families as well,” the department said, adding that they wish him a swift recovery and remain “forever thankful, always grateful” that he avoided even more serious injuries.
Dalton’s mother described his survival as nothing short of a blessing.
“I learned with Dalton early on that keeping focused on the positive was the key to all of his recoveries,” she wrote in the Nov. 29 post. “If you do not know Dalton’s story, it is proof positive how God hears our calls and answers them.”
She concluded, “The only way to say yesterday didn’t end differently is to say, ‘God is powerful.’ ”
