Help Gone Awry : Victims: Two men on rescue missions are badly burned in Topanga Canyon. One was trying to save the other, who had gone back to get his cat.

By JACK CHEEVERS

Nov. 3, 1993 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

The moment Peter Alexander saw the flames, he knew he and his friends were in serious trouble.

Within minutes, the blaze sprinted down a dry Topanga Canyon hillside and headed for Alexander’s 10-acre spread on Old Topanga Canyon Road.

Alexander, an art dealer, quickly telephoned two friends who lived on his property: Duncan Gibbins, a British screenwriter-director, and Ron Mass, a carpenter just hired at the Inn of the Seventh Ray, a natural-food restaurant long favored by Topanga residents.

Gibbins, who rented a cottage from Alexander, did not answer. Mass, who lived in a trailer, hopped into a vehicle to look for him.

In moments, Gibbins, 41, and Mass, 40, were engulfed by smoke and flames and severely burned--the most badly injured of at least five victims of Tuesday’s ferocious Calabasas-Malibu fire.

Gibbins had gotten safely away from his cottage. But with the fire bearing down, he headed back toward the dwelling, Alexander said, to rescue his cat.

Gibbins was burned over more than 90% of his body. He was taken by helicopter to the Sherman Oaks Community Hospital Burn Center, where officials said he was in extremely critical condition.

Mass was burned over 75% of his body and was listed in critical condition, breathing with the help of a ventilator.

Also injured were three California Department of Forestry firefighters who remained in good condition Tuesday night at the Sherman Oaks burn center.

Barry Biermann, 28, and Shawn Kite, 25, suffered smoke inhalation and first-degree burns to the face, according to hospital spokesperson Johna Rogovin. Al McBride, 43, suffered smoke inhalation and second- and third-degree burns to his back and shoulders, Rogovin said.

The men were from Butte County, Calif., Rogovin said.

Although Gibbins’ film credits included “Eve of Destruction,” “Fire With Fire” and “Third Degree Burn,” the story lines had nothing to do with fire or the kind of tragedy that befell him.

“Eve of Destruction,” a 1991 sci-fi film he directed, starred Gregory Hines as a futuristic law-enforcer who tries to track down a malfunctioning, murderous android. He also turned out music videos for groups including the Eurythmics and Wham!

Looking shaken, Alexander--whose hillside home was destroyed by the blaze--described the morning’s events at a brief news conference outside the Sherman Oaks hospital, answering no questions before disappearing into the burn unit to be with his wife and friends.

The night before the blaze, Alexander’s house had been jammed with family and friends. His wife and child were there, as were his sister-in-law and her husband and child. Another friend had just arrived from Hawaii.

By Tuesday morning, all but Alexander, Gibbins and Mass had left on various errands.

Alexander, 43, said as soon as he saw smoke Tuesday, he telephoned 911 and started watering down his roof. He quickly realized that it was futile and called Gibbins and Mass to tell them to get out before the flames hit.

It took the flames about seven minutes to race across 1,000 yards and eat away at his property, Alexander said.

“It reached my driveway within five or six minutes,” he said. “I got out of the property before the flames actually reached my house.”

Mass, a longtime friend, said he would try and find Gibbins. If the fire got too hot, Mass said he would come back and “jump in the swimming pool,” Alexander said.

Gibbins, it turned out, had gotten safely away from his cottage. But with the fire bearing down, he headed back to rescue his cat, Alexander said.

Another friend of Alexander’s, Martin Berger, who stayed at Alexander’s house Monday night with his wife and infant son, said the cat was a stray that Gibbins had adopted.

“The cat showed up, and he fed the cat,” said Berger, of Hermosa Beach. “It’s like where we live. Cats show up and people feed them.”

Alexander said Mass could not reach Gibbins. Mass was surrounded by the blaze, leaped from his vehicle and began running. When Alexander next saw him, he was running down a road, “trailing smoke behind him.”

Both burn victims were rushed to the Sherman Oaks hospital, where they were sedated as doctors and respiratory experts worked to save them.

Alexander said his land was well landscaped and largely free of weeds and other highly flammable materials. He said a friend who walked through his property after the fire said his home was reduced to “a pile of rubble.”

Gibbins’ cottage escaped damage.

“That was not burned,” he said, shaking his head. “That’s the great irony.”