kittens and humans saved

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/3753291.html CONROE - A blind man took the hands of his 84-year-old neighbor and safely led the woman through heavy smoke to escape from her burning house Monday night. Jim Sherman, 54, lives next door to Annie Smith, who is legally blind, and heard her calls for help about 10 p.m. on a baby monitor system they share. Smith, her three kittens and at least one of her three cats were not injured in the blaze that broke out about 10:18 p.m. in her Grangerland home, about 10 miles southeast of Conroe. Sherman said he quickly grabbed his walking stick when he heard Smith say, "Jim, Jim, the house is on fire.'' He said he made his way to the chain link fence that surrounds Smith's home, using it as his guide. When he entered the front door, he said immediately knew something was wrong. "I got to the door and heard crackling, smelled smoke and felt the intense heat,'' he said Tuesday, while standing in his cramped travel trailer home. "I took two to three steps to meet Annie. I grabbed both of her hands firmly to get her out of the house.'' He then called 911 on his cordless phone, he said. Fire crews found the house fully engulfed in flames when they arrived 12 minutes after receiving the call, said Kevin Bates, an investigator with the Montgomery County Fire Marshal's Office. Smith lives in the brick home in the 18000 block of Howards Way, with her daughter, Debra Smith. Debra Smith said Tuesday she had left for work at 9 p.m. Monday and her mother was at home watching TV and taking care of the kittens. About 45 minutes later, she said she got a call that the house was on fire. "I rushed home and found my momma and Jim first,'' she said. "I went back in the house and got my three kittens that were just born.'' She said she gave the kittens CPR and fire crews took over when they arrived. Bates said rescue crews set up a rehab area and gave the kittens oxygen. Early today, while investigating the cause of the fire, firefighters found an unharmed calico cat hidden under fire debris, Bates said. Sherman said it was Debra Smith's idea to get the baby monitor. She works nights as a nurse's aide and worried about her mother falling. Sherman said he volunteered to look out for her mother. Smith said she's thankful Sherman was nearby and able to help. Sherman, a retired computer programmer, was modest about his heroics. "I'm just glad I saved someone's life,'' he said. [email protected] Brought to you by the HoustonChronicle.com