Longtime island resident was checking on Bradenton Beach rental when he was electrocuted
Tropical Storm Eta’s storm surge had already entered Mark Mixon’s rental property in Bradenton Beach on Wednesday evening when he arrived at the house. He did not realize the water had reached the wiring of the home’s clothes dryer — charging the water with 220 volts.
The longtime Anna Maria Island resident walked into the water, was shocked and died.
Just after 5:30 p.m., West Manatee Fire Rescue, EMS and Bradenton Beach police responded to a 911 call from a friend.
“Our crew got there and they quickly found it wasn’t safe to enter,” West Manatee Fire Chief Ben Rigney said. “They couldn’t shut off the power from outside because there was standing water.”
The fire crew had radioed the Manatee County Emergency Communications Center, asking to have FPL shut down the power grid to the entire area. But they realized the grid was still active when they entered the home and sensed the electrical current in the water — delivering a minor shock to one firefighter.
“They were told the grid was secure but it wasn’t,” Rigney said.
The crew quickly retreated until they were able to confirm that FPL had actually shut down the power grid — sending many other residents into the dark. But when they pulled Mixon out of the home, he was already dead.
“It appears that the dryer itself was still plugged,” Rigney said.
The shock delivered by the dryer through the water caused Mixon’s death.
The victim’ sister, Kim Eresten, was called out to the home on Wednesday night. The two were born only 11 months and 11 days apart, she said.
“We were very close,” Eresten said. “He was my best friend. I lost my best friend and my brother.”
Mixon was well known on the island, not just as a resident but for the family business, Mixon Insurance.
“He was well loved. He loved life, his girlfriend, his dog,” Eresten added. “He was wonderful, the most fantastic person you would ever meet.”
She had been helping her brother and his girlfriend remodel the rental, as they had done to some of his other rentals on the island.
“Mark lived on the island all of his life, until just recently when he bought a house out in Lakewood Ranch,” Eresten said.
Next-door neighbor Michelle Rutlin was outside her home refilling sandbags as the storm surge was rising. Rutlin had reached out to Eresten to let them know water was going into her brother’s house, and learned that Mixon was headed over.
Just after the power grid was shut down, causing her to lose power, Rutlin got a call from another neighbor asking if she was OK and alerting her to the fire trucks outside.
“So it was a big concern that something was on fire so I came out to the back side of my property,” Rutlin said. “They were all standing around someone that had passed, but at the time I didn’t know who it was.”
Although new to the neighborhood, she was later sadden to learn that it was Mixon, who she only knew as Mark.
“Lessons to be learned because it kind of freaked me out because it could have been me,” she added. “I was out here walking in full-fledged flooded waters, and probably shouldn’t have been but was trying to keep the property safe and sound.”
This story was originally published November 12, 2020 at 4:31 PM.
