Third Family Set to Rebuild Home in Neighborhood Devastated by Fire

A third family whose home was destroyed in the Sept. 9 fire is set to break ground on rebuilding in the Crestmoor neighborhood, and nearly 20 more rebuilding applications are in the pipeline, a city official said recently.

The building permit for the home, at , was issued last week, said Aaron Aknin, the city's community development director, meaning the owners will now join the and the Pellegrinis as the first families in the neighborhood to put shovels in the ground after the tragic pipeline explosion destroyed 38 homes and damaged numerous others.

The family of the Claremont Drive has requested not to be named, but the architect for the family's new home told San Bruno Patch that the owners wanted the house to be similar in design to the one that stood there before the fire. It will be a two-story home with a two-car garage in the same location as before—3,145 square-feet overall, about 1,000 square-feet larger than what the 3-bed, 2-bath home was before the fire.

In addition to the three homes that are now being rebuilt, Aknin said, the city is working with the owners of three other homes—one on Fairmont Drive, one on Glenview Drive and another on Claremont Drive—on making some changes to their building plans.

Aknin said another four homes—three on Claremont and another on Glenview—are moving through the initial planning process, which has been expedited to take as little as two months to approve rebuilding applications.

About a dozen more are in the design phase, he added.

The Grays' plans to rebuild their Fairmont Drive home are among those in the design phase.

At first, Charley and Carolyn Gray weren't sure if they wanted to move back to the same location where they barely escaped the fire trying to flee from their burning house and where so many memories were destroyed in the disaster.

But after so many residents and greater community members came to their aid in the following days and months, it was an easy decision to make.

"The community gave them such great support after the fire—and they've been there for 30 years—that they really wanted to stay in the community," said Mike Hilliard, whose firm Hilliard Architects is designing the Grays' new home. Hilliard and Charley Gray are longtime friends.

Hilliard said the Grays are not only looking to build a home with a new look but also build it green with solar panels and a tankless water heater. They're also planning on moving the location of the house on their property to take better advantage of the outside space—something they couldn't enjoy as much before because of the high winds in the neighborhood, Hilliard said.

"They were always envious because, on their deck, they'd always get blown away," Hilliard said. "Meanwhile, they're neighbors would be on their decks enjoying barbecue."