Heroes On and Off the Battlefield: Off-duty Marines Save Sleeping Guests from Motel Fire
"No fire alarms were going off. The only thing we heard was Marines banging on our windows and telling us to get out."
(Lake Forest, CA)—They may not have been patrolling the streets of Iraq, but 6 off-duty Marines were credited with saving lives on Sunday, just the same.
Just before 8am on Sunday, at the America's Best Value Inn motel in southern California, a fire reportedly broke out on the second floor—the cause of which is still under investigation.
A few of the Marines were walking along the landing when they spotted the fire, and after rousing their colleagues, began waking the other guests, helping them to safety away from the flames. (Photo: Pfc. Thomas O'Brien, USMC/ABC-7 News)
According to the ABC-7 News report, the motel was not equipped with a sprinkler system, and firefighters later noted that there were no smoke alarms heard going off.
One young couple and their 14-month-old son were asleep until the Marines alerted them to the danger just one room over. "We were right next to a room completely on fire and we couldn't smell smoke," recalled Amy Amadito-Phelps. "No fire alarms were going off. The only thing we heard was Marines banging on our windows and telling us to get out." (Photo: ABC-7 News)
One of the motel guests, an elderly man, was carried to safety. "It's what we're trained to do," explained one of the Camp Pendleton-based Marines.
All the guests had been warned by the Marines and had exited the buildings by the time firefighters arrived. Orange County Fire Authority, Capt. Steve Pardi said, "I'd call them absolute heroes."
To watch a video report, follow the link provided.
