Dandylion, that was my thought. That this really drives home what this disease does to people. Any non-alcoholic person would see that absolute lack of rational thought in what this man did. To him... it was OMG MY BEER.
I only heard a brief synopsis of the story so I don't know the details but it didn't sound like he prioritized beer over children, more like once the children were safely accounted for by the professionals, he went back in for his beer.