Jim Grant never expected to be a hero.
Last Dec. 11, however, he unexpectedly became one.
Grant, 52, of Point Loma was heading to work as a project manager for a general contractor when he saw black smoke billowing from an apartment building in the Midway area. He called 911 and drove toward the smoke. He asked bystanders clustered outside if they had made sure the apartments were empty.
They said no.
Grant dashed in a side entrance and up to the burning second floor, assaulted by the heat, taste and smell of burning wires, foam and plastic. There was no sign of residents as he ran down the hall filled with thick smoke, banging on apartment doors and yelling “Fire!”
But at the end of the hall, he found a disabled woman in a wheelchair holding a 4-week-old baby with a 10-year-old boy by her side. She was confused and dazed and refused to leave. So Grant grabbed the baby and the boy and retraced his steps down the hallway and stairs, taking them to safety.
Firefighters hadn't yet arrived, so he then took some breaths of fresh air and ducked back inside to save their mom, Maria Catlett. Again she refused to leave. Choking, he ran back outside to get some air and found a police officer, Caleb Knobel, who offered to accompany him back into the burning building.
They found the woman in her wheelchair in the hallway. Together they carried her downstairs to safety, then returned for her wheelchair.
The men were honored in May for their courage by the S.D. Burn Institute. Now recognition is going national as their story appears in the Heroes section of the October Reader's Digest.
San Diego scene
Vicente Fox, the former president of Mexico, dined with Rancho Santa Fe friends Tuesday evening at Mille Fleurs. As he dashed off to catch his return flight to Mexico, he assured chef Martin Woesle that he'll be back . . .
Dr. Shaul Massry, a kidney specialist who helped encourage Pope John Paul II to become a registered organ donor, is addressing the Pro Athletes for Life banquet at the U.S. Grant on Tuesday. The fundraiser, created by former Green Bay Packers running back and kidney recipient John Brockington of San Diego and his wife Diane, will honor Massry, a University of Southern California medical professor, for heightening donor awareness . .
Paul Newman's death was a double blow to Del Cerro resident Linda Bennett and her husband, Michael. Linda not only loved Newman as an actor but had looked forward to meeting him at the upcoming dedication of his new Hole in the Wall Camp for ill children in Israel. One of its cabins will be named in memory of the Bennetts' daughter, Marla, who was killed in a 2002 terrorist bombing while studying at Hebrew University.
Linda also cherishes a special Newman memento – a shirt worn by the actor during his appearance in “Our Town” on Broadway five years ago. The shirt was a gift from a friend whose daughter worked on the production. She plans to frame it – and vows never to wash it.
Speaking of shirts . . .
S.D. restaurateur/chef Deborah Scott aims to please her customers. At Island Prime, she was chatting with diners at various tables Saturday evening when one gent commented on the restaurant's hospitality.
“What length will you go to to please guests?” he asked.
“Well . . . I'll do almost anything,” Scott replied.
He then asked if she'd give him the shirt off her back. He stripped off his shirt and stood bare chested as he offered it in trade.
The diner was soon wearing her monogrammed green chef coat. (She was eager that he quickly cover up.) Scott slipped on his Hawaiian shirt.
“Luckily I was wearing a tank top,” she says.
Diane Bell's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Fax items to (619) 260-5009, call (619) 293-1518 or e-mail to diane.bell@uniontrib.com.
