When a fire broke out at a Florida hotel in June, people in the surrounding area broke out phones and started videoing the scene.

Kayla Bethel was not one of them. She ran to the scene, found a fire extinguisher, dosed the blaze and a woman injured in the fire and summoned help and relayed critical information about the patient to responding crews.

“Tallahassee Fire they called me that afternoon but when and they said that everybody else took their phones out,” Gulf Shores Fire Chief Mark Sealy said. “There were a lot of people around taking their phones out, started a video.

“But not Kayla.”

Bethel works near Gulf Shores Station No. 1 and has expressed an interest in joining the fire service. 

“Kayla works next door at Serenity Dental, and she is an aspiring firefighter as well,” Sealy said. “We’ve been working with her for about a year. She comes and rides with us when she has time off, and she’s also graduating from Coastal with her paramedic license next week in what is a grueling process.”

So, while other people were standing around watching, Bethel sprang into action.

“Kayla rushed over, immediately found a fire extinguisher and rushed upstairs,” Sealy said. “When she did so, she heard screaming. When she got upstairs, a lady came out of the room on fire in front of her. She was handed that situation that she volunteered to rush into.”

Bethel first put the fire out on the woman, then turned her attention to putting out the fire in the room. Sadly, the lady she helped later succumbed to her injuries.

“She then rendered care to this injured, severely burned young lady,” Sealy said. “All the while calling 911 while everybody else was just on their phones.

Because of her knowledge in the field, Bethel passed along critical information to responding crews that prompted them to call for a helicopter.

“Most civilians can’t talk to dispatch for a helicopter,” Sealy said. “You have to have some medical knowledge and know what you’re talking about. So, she was able to shave a lot of minutes off the patient being transported to a burn facility. She did all of that on her own.”

Sealy recognized Bethel at the July 17 city council meeting where she was greeted with a standing ovation after hearing her story.

“I know that’s a very emotional thing to see, and we are very proud of Kayla and I just wanted you to be as proud of her as I am,” Sealy said.