Marines joined local fire departments in evacuating residents of a senior housing complex near their military post in Washington, D.C., after a fire broke out in the building Wednesday afternoon.
“This afternoon when a fire broke out at an apartment complex for the elderly in Southeast D.C., Barracks Marines immediately responded to assist local fire departments,” Marine Barracks Washington, D.C., wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday. “Marines rushed into the building to rescue those who needed assistance and evacuated residents to the Marine Barracks Washington Annex where they were checked and treated for any injuries and sheltered until their loved ones arrived.”
D.C. Acting Fire Chief Milton Douglas said four people were hospitalized due to minor injuries, but D.C. councilman Charles Allen noted all residents of the building have been accounted for.
“We aren’t sure how the fire started at Arthur Capper Senior Building in Navy Yard,” Allen said in a statement. “Firefighters needed to rescue a few residents via window from the higher floors.”
Allen said he was there to help motivate people to leave the building even as some of the residents didn’t believe there was an actual fire because they didn’t hear fire alarms and no sprinklers had been triggered, according to the Washington Post.
Video of several Marines running to the scene was posted to Twitter and widely shared.
Marines from 8 and I running towards the fire raging in SE DC. pic.twitter.com/4vSKsuyTGo
— Lyndsey Medsker (@lmedsker) September 19, 2018
Their swift response to help those affected by the fire prompted praise from Gen. Robert Neller, commandant of the Marine Corps.
“Proving again, ‘no better friend’…well done, Marines,” Neller tweeted.
Proving again, ‘no better friend’…well done, Marines https://t.co/rk9y8IMMCh
— Robert B. Neller (@GenRobertNeller) September 20, 2018
