After-hours Rescue All in a Day’s Work for Fort Myers Utility Coordinator

As we celebrate Natural Gas Utility Workers’ Day this week, we’re taking a moment to share an example of how Peoples Gas team members go above and beyond, even when they are off the clock.

Five days before Christmas, Tom Regal, utility coordinator, was heading home for the day on I-75 from the Fort Myers office. He exited the highway behind an old pickup truck carrying a load of sand, and the vehicles approached an intersection known to be dangerous. Seconds after the truck pulled into the intersection, Tom witnessed a sight he won’t soon forget.

The pickup truck was struck by a red sedan and a fire started beneath the truck’s chassis. Tom immediately sprang into action, grabbing a fire extinguisher from his vehicle. As he worked to put out the fire – remembering to aim low, from his training years ago at Avon Park – two bystanders worked to rescue the driver of the sedan. Pausing his efforts for a moment, Tom returned to his vehicle to retrieve a breaker bar and other equipment to aid their attempt.

It took Tom three times to extinguish the truck fire long enough to pull the 79-year-old driver from the wreck before the truck was engulfed in flames. While he sustained only minor injuries, the man was disoriented and panicked. The sedan’s driver, a 20-year-old man, fared worse – a compound fracture on his femur. Tom contacted the young man’s parents as the ambulance and fire department arrived on the scene.

Rescue personnel congratulated Tom and the others for their efforts. Both victims recovered from the accident, in large part due to his quick actions. “Anyone would have done the same thing,” said Tom.

It was after the accident that it really hit Tom what he had witnessed and done, and Division Manager Eddie Walsh helped to calm him down. The young man’s father called him to say his son was recovering well. Tom visited him in the hospital and learned that being “a fighter” was not new to him. The young man had been born on Christmas Eve, weighing only one and a half pounds.

Tom is proud of his long history with Peoples Gas and the company’s commitment to safety. He is grateful for his training and for his 39 years working in the gas industry, which he says helped him to stay calm and focused. “Be aware of your surroundings, keep yourself straight and focus on one thing,” is Tom’s advice. And, a silver lining from sleeping in his vehicle for the better part of a week in Panama City during restoration efforts following Hurricane Michael in 2018 was that he knew the exact location of all his equipment.

Today, traces of sand still remain at the scene, serving as a reminder of the day he saved two lives.

The fiery scene of the accident near Luckett Road in Fort Myers.