Firefighters are heroic people who put their lives on the line to help others, and they are constantly being called upon to go above and beyond the call of duty. Recently, the firefighters in Engine 3 in Harrisburg, North Carolina stepped up to help a family in need in a beautiful way!

It all started one night last month when Steven Taylor suffered a medical emergency at home, and his wife Tonya called 911. Both the Harrisburg Fire Department and EMTs quickly arrived on the scene, which soon descended into chaos. The firefighters in Engine 3 realized that both parents would need to go to the hospital, leaving nobody to watch their children. Without hesitating, the firefighters stepped up and agreed to babysit the Taylors’ two young sons while their parents were gone.

The firefighters watched the two boys, who are aged 7 and 1, for 45 minutes while their grandparents made their way to the home.

“Sometimes we do what needs to be done,” the fire department posted on social media. “So was the case at a medical call last night. The parents of these two guys needed to get to the hospital by ambulance and it was going to be about 30 minutes till Grandpa could make it from another county. The crew of Engine-3 to the rescue! The guys enjoyed the next bit being awesome kid sitters till family arrived, we love our community.”

Even though none of the men in Engine 3 have children, they had no trouble playing with the two boys, who had a blast with their “mannies.”

“We played hot wheels with the 7-year-old and Cooter took him outside and around the block,” recalled firefighter Lee Dewitt. “Walked the little boy pushed him in his little car and kept him occupied.”

“We all knew what needed to be done,” added firefighter Chris Carter. “So, we needed to get the family the medical help they needed right away and it just became natural that we were all ready to just take care of the kids until grandma and grandpa were able to get there and take over.”

Tonya and Steven were incredibly grateful to the firefighters for what they did.

“I wanted to thank the Harrisburg Fire Dept!” Tonya wrote on Facebook. “Words can’t express how grateful we are you were there for us. We appreciate all of you for helping us.”

We applaud these firefighters for going above and beyond to help this family. God bless all firefighters who put their lives on the line to help us every day!