Question

What motivated dally Johnny and pony to rescue the children caught in the church fire in the book the outsiders

Answer 1

Well, they thought they caused the fire by dropping a cigarette on the floor, so they felt responsible. Also, they are good people, and they didn't want deaths that they could have prevented. Finally, they were saving the children, and therefore saving their innocence, while Johnny and Pony's innocence was slipping away. 

Answer 2

What motivated them to rescue the childeren was that Jhonny already had killed a person and was brave enough to help and as Ponyboy ran in to help jhonny so did Dally. Jhonny was the most moticated to "loosing" his parents and he killed someone. He felt as if he had no worries anyways.