This morning, just before 2 a.m., a fire broke out in the home of Carol Miller, a woman who had rescued at least 100 cats from the Stanford campus. Miller, a volunteer cat rescuer in her 70s, was trapped in the burning home by fencing she had installed to keep the cats inside.

According to Captain Reggie Williams, a smoke detector in Miller's home apparently failed to go off. Instead, Miller was saved by the lone dog in the house who woke her up. Miller called 9-1-1 when she saw smoke and fire coming from one of the bedrooms. When she tried to leave the house, she exited through the back door where she had fenced in the yard with metal netting. Firefighters had to cut through the fencing with axes to get her to safety.

The flames were extinguished in about an hour. Sadly, only seven of the cats of the nearly 100 cats Miller was keeping in the home made it out alive. Most of the cats died due to smoke inhalation and firefighters were left with the sombre task of removing the bodies. The heroic dog also survived and neither Miller nor the firefighters were injured in the one-alarm blaze.

Miller was apparently more conscientious than your typical cat hoarder. She volunteered for Stanford Cat Network, a group that rescues stray and feral cats from the University campus. She cared for and neutered the cats with the goal of sending them off to adoptive owners. After her rescue Miller told CBS5, "Animal control periodically came and inspected (the cats). They were well cared for and terribly loved. They were like my children and I devoted my whole life to them.”

The surviving cats are now in the capable hands of South San Jose's animal services department.

ABC7 has video from this morning's fire:

Previously: SPCA Finds 113 Dead Kittens In Raid On Cat Hoarder
[Mercury News]
[CBS SF]