25 years since East Bay Hills Fire

 It was one of the worst urban wildfires in United States history, the East Bay Hills firestorm. October 20th, marks the 25th anniversary of that horrific day when 25 people died and more than 3,000 homes were incinerated.

One of those incinerated homes belonged to  Sue and Gordon Piper.  They have gone from firestorm survivors to emergency preparedness movers and shakers.

"Really it's my passion," said Sue Piper.

That passion was born on the morning of October 20th, 1991.The pipers saw smoke from their Hiller Drive home.

A brush fire had flared up the day before, but firefighters appeared to have put it out.

"I called the fire dept to ask what was going on. They said don't worry we have everything under control. But it kept getting blacker and blacker," said Sue.

High gusting winds turned what began as a brush fire,into an out of control  fire-breathing monster.

"It was essentially like a volcano going off in your neighborhood. Roaring fires and smoke. Essentially like hell had erupted," said Gordon Piper.

The pipers took separate cars and with their young children and began heading down the hill.
But the roads in the hills are narrow, windy and at that moment overrun with traffic.

One firefighter near the Parkwoods Apartments told KTVU photographer Steve Carolo "I've never seen anything like this."

Sue Piper says she could feel the heat from the fire as she drove out. Almost half of the 25 people killed in the fire, died trying to make it down the narrow roads.

"We were stopped because there was so much traffic. The grove of eucalyptus trees on the side of highway 13 exploded in front of our eyes.

"A few miles north Gary Plotner saw some smoke but at first never thought the fire would get near his Alvarado Road neighborhood. It would. "When we left the fire was coming down the hill," said Plotner.

Fortunately, the fire stopped just short of his house.

"It was kind of anti-climatic because a woman next to us on the ridge, her house was gone. So we really could not celebrate," said Plotner.

But the monster devoured three thousand homes. One of them was the Piper's.
Their property looked like a moonscape. Almost nothing left.

" I was glad we were safe. And one thing I learned, this was just stuff," said Sue.

While many survivors never returned to the hills, the Pipers rebuilt.  The have also become outspoken advocates for wildfire safety programs.

They led the effort to build the Emergency Preparedness Exhibit in the hills.

The exhibit contains preparedness tips and a garden that features fire-resistant plants..the kind they feel homeowners in the hills should be planting.

"Too many people have vegetation, trees and shrubs that are fire prone surrounding their homes that pose a risk. But that vegetation can potentially kill you," said Gordon Piper.

25 years have now passed.

Perhaps the biggest lesson so many learned that day is just how quickly something so horrible can happen.