Nonprofit immediately provided $77,000 in direct emergency assistance and continues to provide long-term support to the 40 families displaced from their homes.
SAN DIEGO (May 29, 2025) — On Thursday, May 22 at 3:45a.m. PDT, a private aircraft crashed into the Murphy Canyon military housing area near the Marine Corp Air Station Miramar causing a significant fire. Dozens of military families evacuated with no time to gather basic essentials including wallets, identification, phones, and more.
Within hours, the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society (NMCRS) offices including its Miramar, San Diego location, initiated an emergency response, establishing a presence at the evacuation site ensuring that displaced families had instant access to support. From May 22 to 23, NMCRS staff assisted 81 service members and their families, delivering over $77,000 in direct emergency assistance to help with expenses for lodging, meals, transportation, and other immediate needs.
Retired Navy Rear Adm., Dawn Cutler, Chief Operations Officer for NMCRS stated, “Through our coordinated efforts, NMCRS was able to provide immediate on-the-ground emergency assistance, offering grants and much more to the many Sea Service members and their families who needed it most during this tragic and urgent time of need.”
Approximately 40 military housing units remain uninhabitable, and NMCRS will continue to provide long-term assistance for the displaced families in critical need. In addition to financial support, NMCRS will assist with insurance deductibles, replacing uniforms and essentials, and helping service members return to readiness and stability.
Cutler continued, “A significant need still exists, as over 40 families are currently homeless from fire, smoke, debris and jet fuel contamination, so we’ll be providing ongoing assistance to those who serve our country over the coming days and weeks as they begin to recover from this horrific event.”
In keeping with its mission, NMCRS has always stood ready to help those that protect our country when a natural or human-made disaster occurs. In the last two years alone, NMCRS has provided $2.2 million in disaster aid to over four thousand active-duty and retired Sailors, Marines and their families, with over $17 million in disaster assistance being provided since 2015. NMCRS also offers a variety of other services, including financial, educational and other forms of assistance through their offices in over 213 locations throughout the U.S. and around the globe.
All NMCRS services and programs are made entirely possible through generous donations. For those willing to donate, NMCRS has established a special section on their website to continue assisting Sea Service families with immediate needs grants and other financial assistance to help cover costs for items lost and other unexpected expenses that continue to arise following the crash.
For more information about the many ways NMCRS supports active-duty and retired Sailors, Marines and their family members, visit nmcrs.org.