Deputy Uses Fire Extinguishers To Save Man Swarmed by Bees

Fayette County Sheriff’s Deputy Joe Gonzales saved the life of a man who was attacked by a swarm of bees in Plum on June 1.

John Pechacek, a 72-yearold retiree, got out of Dell Seton Medical Center in Austin last Wednesday after spending almost a week in the hospital following the bee attack. Pechacek mows grass as a part-time job. He was mowing a property in Plum when the attack occurred. A neighbor saw the swarm of bees stinging Pechacek and called 911.

“There were some bees living in an old trailer house,” Pechacek said. “I came by and they swarmed all over me.”

Gonzales was inside the County’s 911 dispatch center when the call came in.

“The caller had a very urgent sound in his voice,” Gonzales said. “I figured it was a major accident or a disturbance of some kind. I walked up to one of the dispatchers to see the notes she was writing down. When I walked behind her I saw the address and right underneath it said ‘bee attack.’” Gonzales ran to his patrol car and hurried toward Plum.

“When I pulled up to the corner of the alley, I could see him laying on the ground,” Gonzales said. “I ran to the back of my car and got my fire extinguisher.”

Gonzales said he had seen documentaries about bee attacks and people fighting off a swarm using fire extinguishers.

“It’s preferable to have a different type of fire extinguisher than the ones we carry – they’re mostly for vehicle and electrical-type fires,” he said. “But anything helped at that point.”

With his extinguisher in hand, Gonzales approached the victim.

“I was about 30 to 40 yards away from him and I could see a defined, clear as a bell, cloud over him,” Gonzales said. “The bees were coming down and taking turns stinging him. I looked to see what kind of victim I was dealing with, and that’s when I saw it was somebody I knew.”

Gonzales worked as a Flatonia Police officer before joining the Sheriff’s Office several years ago. The two men knew each other because Pechacek used to work for the County in the Precinct 3 road and bridge department.

“I’ve known Joe for years,” Pechacek said. “He was there and I heard his voice.”

Gonzales yelled at Pechacek to hold his breath as he sprayed the swarm with the fire extinguisher.

“Some of the bees got around that initial burst and started coming at me,” Gonzales said. “I went up to John, and he was laying on his back. I tapped his hand and said, ‘Let’s go! Let’s go!’ He said, ‘I can’t.’ I said, ‘John, we’ve got to go! Get up!’” Pechacek rolled over and the bees came back for another attack. By that time, Gonzales depleted his fire extinguisher.

Gonzales called out for help on his radio. Around that time, Fayette County EMS medics along with EMS Coordinator Josh Vandever arrived on scene.

“I told them I needed help and more fire extinguishers,” Gonzales said.

Gonzales asked a neighbor for a water hose, but the hose could not reach the spot where Pechacek was laying.

“We ran down the alleyway with a stretcher to grab him and run, but the water hose was too short and the bees started attacking the EMS and him. We had to fall back. I called for the fire department to get in route. (Deputy) Holly Smith arrived, and we made another attempt at a rescue.”

Gonzales grabbed Smith’s fire extinguisher and ran back with the medics toward Pechacek. Gonzales and one medic used fire extinguishers to ward off the bees while the other medics got Pechacek onto a stretcher.

“He was spraying low and I was spraying high,” Gonzales said. “As soon as they got John on a stretcher, we hightailed it out of there.”

Medics loaded Pechacek into an ambulance and took him to the airport in Smithville, where a PHI helicopter picked up Pechacek and flew him to Dell Seton Medical Center in Austin.

“They hit him with epinephrine,” Gonzales said. “John crashed on them a couple of times and stopped breathing,” Gonzales said. “They had to intubate him to help him breathe. They got him stabilized and flew him to Dell Seton.”

Pechacek said he was in a coma for several hours after the attack. He spent five days in the hospital. Gonzales estimated that Pechacek suffered about 200 bee stings. Gonzales was stung about seven or eight times himself, but that wasn’t the worst of his problems.

“I inhaled three or four fire extinguishers,” Gonzales said. “My throat, my respiratory system was having some difficulty. My nose was stopped up. My eyes were dry. I went to the back of my car and grabbed some water to try and flush my eyes. I was gagging. I held it together at the scene and was able to drive myself back to the office. I didn’t know it, but Josh (Vandever) followed me there. I was trying to cool off with my A/C blowing, drink water and all of that. It wasn’t helping. Josh pulled up next to me and asked if I was doing alright. I told him I was having trouble breathing,. He said, ‘Get in the car, I’m taking you to the hospital.”

Doctors hooked Gonzales to an IV and treated him with steroids and Benadryl. Gonzales said it took a week for his respiratory system to get back to normal.

“I went to bed that night terrified that we didn’t get to John in time and that I didn’t do enough,” Gonzales said.

A mutual friend called Gonzales the next day to tell him that Pechacek was going to be OK.

“It was a sigh of relief,” Gonzales said.

Pechacek visited Gonzales at the Sheriff’s Office last week as soon as he got out of the hospital.

“I was at the office taking care of another case,” Gonzales said. “I came out of a hallway door, and as I was coming out, John was walking in. I couldn’t believe it. I got totally sidetracked from what I was doing. He shook my hand and we gave each other a hug. He told me, ‘Thank you, you saved my life.’” Despite the recent scare, Pechacek said he isn’t quite ready to give up his lawn mowing business.

“I know I’m probably too old to keep mowing grass for everyone, but I got customers and it keeps me busy,” Pechacek said. “Maybe I should give it up and enjoy my retirement. But I can’t sit on the couch and watch television day in and day out. I’ve got to be doing something.”

Gonzales said he’ll be ready the next time he responds to a call about bees.

“I already ordered a bee suit off of Amazon,” he said.