House fire kills nearly 100 cats that were trapped inside by metal netting but their caretaker makes it out alive

PUBLISHED: 14:46 EST, 16 July 2013 | UPDATED: 15:56 EST, 16 July 2013

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Nearly 100 cats died in a San Jose, California house fire that also almost killed the woman who lived there.

Firefighters had to cut through metal netting using axes to save Carol Miller early Tuesday, the San Jose Mercury News reports.

Miller, who is in her 70s, had installed the fencing to keep the cats from escaping. Only seven cats survived, along with Miller's dog.

Nearly 100 cats died in a San Jose, California house fire that also almost killed their caretaker, Carol Miller (pictured)

Firefighters remove cat crates from the site of the blaze. Only seven cats survived

One of the seven surviving cats is pictured. The animal has been handed over to the city's animal shelter

One of the seven surviving cats is pictured after the fire. The animal has been handed over to the city's animal shelter

She is a volunteer cat rescuer who cares for and neuters the felines for adoption. She said she is contracted by Stanford University to care for the animals.

'I am so careful,' she told ABC7News.com. 'And this is my worst nightmare. I just don't know where to go from here.'

San Jose fire Capt. Reggie Williams told the Mercury News that there were cats in every room of the house.

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Miller had called 911 around 2 a.m. Tuesday after she woke up to the sound of her dog barking and saw smoke billowing from a bedroom. Her fire alarm had failed to go off.

A fire dispatcher told her to stay low and try to leave the home, but she was only able to make it to a patio that she had enclosed with metal netting, so she was unable to escape.

Miller said she is always very careful about preventing fires in her home and that she is devastated by what happened

Carol Miller (second from left) and firefighters stand outside her home after the fire. She is holding the leash of her dog, who woke her up and alerted her to the blaze

Fire crews cut through the netting with axes and found her in a fetal position surrounded by smoke and fire.

Most of the deceased cats were killed by smoke inhalation, rather than direct contact with the blaze,l Williams said.

The surviving cats were given to the city's animal services department.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.