By Stephanie Nelson

For The Advance

Two Brewton teens — one with burns to his face and eye — were rescued off the Conecuh River early Saturday morning.

Chief Deputy Mike Lambert with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said the boys, both 17, decided to take advantage of the spring-like weather for a camping trip, launching just after the school bell rang on Friday.

“Later, we got a 911 call from a cell phone saying that the boys had launched at River View in a boat to go camping,” Lambert said. “The caller said one boy was injured and needed help, and then we lost the signal.”

That’s when a full rescue mission began, Lambert said. Emergency personnel began working with the cell phone company to determine the location of the phone’s last signal.

“The thing was, we didn’t know if they were going up the river when they left, or down,” Lambert said, of the teens’ direction of travel. “Several hours later, we launched our boat going upstream and the rescue squad went downriver.”

Lambert said deputies located the teens after spotting the edge of a tent off a sandbar at approximately 4 a.m. Saturday.

“Apparently what had happened was one of them dropped a lighter in the fire and it caused an explosion,” Lambert said. “One boy received burns to his face and eye. We were able to determine the location where they were and get them loaded up into a vehicle on (U.S. Highway. 29) in an area behind Herrington’s Logging.”

Lambert said both teens were transported to the hospital for medical treatment. The injured teen is expected to make a full recovery.