Insights > Entergy Louisiana lineworker rescues woman from burning vehicle

Entergy Louisiana lineworker rescues woman from burning vehicle

01/31/2024

While driving to a routine job inspection, an Entergy Louisiana lineworker out of Winnsboro took life-saving actions to rescue a local resident from her burning vehicle.

Here’s how it unfolded:

During a stormy afternoon, Gary Ezell, was headed down Highway 4 in Winnsboro when he encountered a damaged vehicle with a woman inside.

“As I pulled over to get a closer look, I realized the van was on fire and other residents nearby were in a panic,” said Ezell. “I grabbed my fire extinguisher and ran to help.”

After several attempts, Ezell and several neighbors in the area were able to contain the fire enough to break the front windshield and pull the woman out to safety.

“When I first pulled over, the thought check, call and care rang through my ears,” said Ezell. “We’ve said this countless times in our daily tailboards to our crew members, but now I was faced with a situation to act on those words.”

Ezell and several others stayed on the scene to help first responders care for the woman, who had noticeable injuries, and load her into the ambulance.

At Entergy, our employees are not only committed to providing safe and reliable power to the communities we serve, but they are also dedicated and ready to assist when our customers are in need.

“I am incredibly proud of the heroic and brave efforts shown by Gary in this emergency situation,” said Chad McMillian, Entergy Louisiana line superintendent. “Our teams face these kinds of situations often and I am so grateful to see he was able to use his safety training to help this resident.”


Phoebe James
Communications Specialist II