From Ken Stewart, Warwick, NY:

Greg Evanina must have chosen "The Fire Next Door" article for the January issue because he considered it a tale of divine inspiration and heroism, just as the editor of Guideposts, its original source, no doubt did.

My opinion is quite to the contrary. I believe that Guideposts deserved a scolding in an editorial, rather than the flattery of being reproduced in another magazine.

For me the behavior of both the author and his neighbor exemplified, at best, poor judgment. More likely, it illustrated irresponsibility. The neighbor asked the author to monitor her aged and very limited mother, apparently without any instructions on what to do in an emergency. The author, in turn, was seriously remiss by failing to call 911 the moment his ward reported the fire via the electronic monitoring device. Precious minutes were lost while he made his way from his house, through the gate and yard of the other house, and inside, after locking the door. Then he "flailed" his arms around helplessly until he bumped into his charge.

Indeed, each time this story appears, it may be reinforcing a negative stereotype of the blind guy groping about in a near-daze anytime he is out of his own nest. I know no one who would have been nearly so inept in these circumstances. As a regular visitor, a blind man certainly would have already been quite familiar with the physical details of the elderly woman's living quarters, at least enough to find an escape route efficiently-- all the more, having accepted a helper's role.