Gulf Coast Electric Cooperative<\/a> was en route to install a new service in Gulf County in March when they noticed thick black smoke rising from an RV park.<\/p>\n\u201cIt was just coming over the trees as we were coming down the highway, and we knew something wasn\u2019t right,\u201d said Tyler Whitten, a line apprentice. \u201cWe slowed down and we noticed the camper was smoking.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lineworkers pulled into the park\u2019s driveway to investigate and saw flames shooting out of the camper. A male leg amputee was lying on the porch, unable to move. Underneath him was a woman who had apparently fallen while trying to move him.<\/p>\n
At the scene were several neighbors, who had called 911 and were struggling to move the pair out of harm\u2019s way. As the fire was intensifying, Whitten managed to free the panicked woman but was unable to move the man. He estimated the couple to be in their 60s or 70s.<\/p>\n
With the woman at a safe distance from the burning camper, Whitten turned his attention to her companion. Unable to lift the man by himself, Whitten called over colleague Braydon Nunnery, a line apprentice, and they carried the victim over to safety.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, journeyman lineman Hunter Jenks, with help from foreman Frankie Bailey, cut the power to the area before joining the rescue effort.<\/p>\n
The crew then provided bottled water to the victims, as well as shaken neighbors, and kept bystanders at a safe distance until first responders arrived.<\/p>\n
While the man\u2019s dog died in the blaze, the crew\u2019s decisive actions likely saved the couple\u2019s lives, said City of Wewahitchka Assistant Fire Chief Brian Cox, adding that the man was taken to a local hospital where he was treated for smoke inhalation.<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting them away from the fire was probably the best thing they could have done,\u201d Cox said. \u201cBy the time we got there, the whole camper was on fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
Consistent training helps lineworkers keep a \u201cclear head in chaotic situations,\u201d likely leading to a positive outcome, said Gulf Coast EC Director of Safety and Training Cole Barfield.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m super proud of them. I\u2019m glad they were available and paying attention and were able to help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victoria A. Rocha is a staff writer for NRECA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Near Wewahitchka, Florida, Gulf Coast Electric Cooperative\u2019s (from left) Frankey Bailey, Hunter Jenks, Braydon Nunnery and Tyler Whitten…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280958,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-280957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280957\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Good-Samaritan-photo-1024x576.jpg\")
Near Wewahitchka, Florida, Gulf Coast Electric Cooperative\u2019s (from left) Frankey Bailey, Hunter Jenks, Braydon Nunnery and Tyler Whitten saved two people from a burning camper. (Photo By: William Wes Morgan\/Gulf County EC)<\/p>\n