the stunning discovery days after a massive fire burned through a senior apartment complex in washington, d.c. a 74-year-old man found alive. here's david kerley. >> reporter: tonight, five days after flames swept through this d.c. senior center, with firefighters and nearby u.s. marines racing to help pull residents out of the 161 apartments -- >> the marines came and got him out. >> reporter: -- a survivor still in the building. the 74-year-old man found alone sitting in his apartment this morning, as structural teams checking the charred remains heard him inside, prying open his jammed door. a door that may have prevented his escape. >> for somebody that's been in that situation for as long as he was, he seemed incredibly in good shape. >> reporter: but how could an elderly man have been forgotten for all those days? the mayor pointed to the building managers. >> what was provided by the management company, or what they told us, is that he was on the list and that he was accounted for. >> reporter: accounted for, even