When a fire broke out at a large nursing home in Washington D.C., many feared that the elderly residents would not make it out in time. Luckily for the residents, however, they share a neighborhood with a U.S. Marine outpost full of military servicemen and women who were not about to leave them behind!

The Arthur Capper Senior Apartments facility is just 200 yards away from the Marine outpost, and as soon as they saw the smoke, dozens of Marines rushed into the facility. When firefighters told them that there were still people stuck in the building, the Marines did not hesitate to take action.

Some Marines ran right into the burning building, while others stayed outside to treat the seniors who had been rescued.

“It was a pretty bad fire, especially on the top floor. Some paralyzed, immobile people in there,” said Capt. Trey Gregory. “We actually just picked people up as best we possibly could and then had the wheelchairs at the exit and then put them right into the wheelchair.”

“I don’t think there was really any thought to it. We were just saying we had to get these people out of here before anything serious happens and just the instincts kicked in to go,” added Gunnery Sgt. Matthew Cale.

A total of 100 Marines teamed up to rescue all 190 residents from the nursing home! Thanks to their quick thinking, only six of the senior citizens had to be hospitalized, and the rest were perfectly fine!

God bless these Marines for doing whatever it took to save the lives of their elderly neighbors!