- January 16, 2025
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Sometimes the right person is in the right place at the right time to do something extraordinary for someone else. That happened on the morening of Monday, Jan. 13. Off-duty Flagler County Firefighter Paramedic Domonique Bennett happened to be at Whiteview Parkway at U.S. 1 when a young man’s blue car struck a construction compaction steamroller and burst into flames.
Bennett, who is a 2022 graduate of the Flagler Palm Coast High School and FPC’s Fire Leadership Academy, jumped into action and extricated the man from his burning car. The patient was airlifted by Flagler County FireFlight to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach.
Fire Chief Michael Tucker visited with the patient, whose identity has not been released, at the hospital on Jan. 14. The young man is in stable condition as of Thursday afternoon, Jan. 15.
“This is what our firefighters train for day-in and day-out,” Tucker said. “Domonique Bennett is an exemplary young firefighter, who stepped up to do the right thing for someone in our community. He literally just passed the paramedic exam and now has that status.”
The Fire Leadership Academy began in January 2017. The program of study is a joint effort between Flagler Schools and Flagler County Fire Rescue, Flagler Palm Coast High School, and Flagler Technical College.
Bennett has worked for Flagler County Fire Rescue since May 2023. He is one of 11 firefighters in the department who graduated from the Fire Leadership Academy at FPC.
“This is a wonderful program and opportunity for our local students,” Tucker said. “They are ready for the job upon completion, and it is a great benefit to us to be able to hire from within our own community.”
The program is designed to be a four-year program in which students start their freshman year and finish the summer after their senior year. Upon graduation, students are prepared to take state examinations for certification as Firefighter II and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT).
As a senior at FPC, Bennett also won two state weightlifting titles and helped the Bulldogs to a state team championship.
