It feels like every year now, California is dealing with some huge natural disaster, usually a fire. This year is no different, except this year the fire seems to have destroyed entire neighborhoods and communities throughout Los Angeles and surrounding areas. Celebrities have been just-like-everybody-else, only in the worst possible way – there have been massive evacuation operations and too many casualties already.
Gerard Butler’s home was destroyed, and he posted the photo of his home on his social media. Other celebrities have taken to social media to talk about being evacuated, or seeing their properties destroyed, or just being grateful to escape with their lives and their families. Miley Cyrus was able to get out with her menegerie and Liam Hemsworth, and it seems like her Malibu property is destroyed. Robin Thicke and his girlfriend April Love Geary also got evacuated, and their home was also destroyed. Other celebrities affected: Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Alyssa Milano, Rainn Wilson, Caitlyn Jenner, Will Smith, Lady Gaga, Martin Sheen, Cher and Guillermo del Toro.
To donate to the Los Angeles Fire Department, go here.
Help me support the firefighters who are risking their lives on the front lines of 3 horrific wildfires: #CampFire #HillFire and #WoolseyFire Donate today to @CAFireFound at https://t.co/cOY5itBGvz #CaliforniaFires
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) November 10, 2018
all I have left. Sending so much love and gratitude to the firefighters and LA country Sheriff’s department! If you are interested in getting involved see next tweet….
Donate $ , Time , Supplies
I love you more than ever , Miley— Miley Ray Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) November 12, 2018
Photos courtesy of social media.
My hearts go out to them all. This is so devestating.
It is heartbreaking. It must feel like the end of the world. Then you have the president blaming the state and people as he always does. I saw on the news that more firefighters lose their lives through suicide, than in actual fires. They are courageous and brave and the thanks they get is a fu from their president. The entire situation is devastating.
My father was a firefighter. Deaths related directly to fire at the scene (smoke inhalation, burns) are mercifully rare. More common is death at the scene due to cardiac arrest. They are under extreme stress, which would contribute to the both the suicide and cardiac issues. Many firefighters of my grandfather’s (mom’s dad was a firefighter too) and father’s generation had serious cardiac and respiratory problems. My dad needed a quintuple bypass and many of his friends died of heart attacks (not on the scene but still rather early in life). Cancers are also a leading cause of death in firefighters because all that stuff in our homes and in factories and office buildings gives off toxic chemicals when it burns. So, if they survive through the heart attack, they often face a battle with some form of leukemia, lymphoma or melanoma, as my dad did.
Yes I saw on the news that suicide among firefighters is spiking. So sad.
Those are some sad statistics Lightpurple. When the Chief was on air last night, I was shocked by his suicide commentary. Such brave men and women running to the scene with no thought of their own mortality. My grandfather was a Firefighter as well, in Canton, Ohio. He was run over by a car and killed instantly when my mother was a child. I can remember her telling me the trouble she got in when her cat went up a tree and she called the Fire Department to retrieve him! Bravo to your dad and all those like him who do what they do. They are remarkable human beings who deserve so much more honor and credit than they ever receive. Special people.
I went through a few wildfires when I lived in California. One day I was at work and my back was turned to the window. I turned around 10 minutes later and saw fire coming down the hillside. Within an hour, a glorously fall day with crisp blue skies turned into hell. I, and my family were safe, but you just never know what that experience is like until you go through it. In a few months we will be hearing about mudslides in these same areas. I feel for all battling this tragedy – those that have lost much and those that are working tirelessly to stop the fires quickly.
Something’s been bothering me since I saw the Martin Sheen interview – he mentioned that his daughter, Renee, went to a friend’s after they were evacuated together and they lost contact with her afterwards. She left her elderly parents stranded in their car overnight. Like at least take them with you!
Neil Young, Camille Grammer, and Joe Flanigan also lost their homes.
Holly Marie Combs posted on Instagram that she and her fiance were briefly hospitalized for smoke inhalation but both seem to be fine now.
klutzy girl: we don’t know the actual details so it’s a bit judgmental to say she”left her elderlly parents”. Martin stated more than once that he’s just fine. He was calm and he said they’re all safe. They weren’t “stranded” in their car. Hundreds of other evacuees were there as well and they all slept in their cars.
It sounded to me like Renee went to check on a friend. For all we know the friend could be elderly or vulnerable. She left her parents somewhere safe, I think it’s unfair to judge.
It’s not unusual to have seasonal fires in CA, but it is quite rare to have populated areas directly impacted. We have a suite of issues here that contribute to fires, including long dry spells, strong winds, and warm fall temperatures.
The death toll of 30 is likely to increase as about 230 people are unaccounted for. We appreciate that our firefighters are battling fires even as their own homes are in direct line of the blazes in both NorCal and SoCal.
Bless our heroes.
My uncle lived in Paradise for 15 years. All of his closest friends and his two kids have lost their homes. My grandparents friends are currently listed as missing. Confirmed 29 fatalities, 228 missing. Dying trapped in your car has got to be top five worst ways to die for me personally. I can’t even begin to imagine. So many people were already at work and couldn’t even get home to evacuate. Teachers were putting children in their personal vehicles to flee, people were trapped at the hospital helipad. I feel for Malibu, but I feel like its taking precedence and national spotlight from Paradise which has essentially been wiped off the map.
This must be so painful for your family. I am very sorry.
Gerry <3
Just to note that the Camp Fire is hundreds of miles north, closer to Sacramento than Los Angeles. This is the fire that burned more than 6,000 structures and wiped out the entire town of Paradise. It’s so awful—they can’t even tell if there are bodies in some of these neighborhoods as the devastation is complete.
Seems heartless to complain about this, but its day 5 of red level (unhealthy) air in the Bay Area.
The NorCal fire is also happening and destroying whole communities. Meanwhile, our Idiot-In-Chief is doing what he does best and antagonising the victims.
Today’s Daily (NYT podcast) was about the fires and it was absolutely terrifying to listen to what people in towns like Paradise have gone through and will continue to go through as they pick up the pieces that these fires left behind. 29 people dead as of this morning with 7 dying trapped in their cars. I honestly cannot begin to imagine the horror they endured in their last moments.
I have close family members in Simi, where the Woolsey fire started. They were VERY lucky in that the fire was moving away from them. My heart goes out to everyone suffering.
PS Please ignore the orange monster who is blaming the victims. We know that it’s federal land. We know the truth.
I feel so terrible for the men and women of the national park service and US fish and wildlife who work so hard with less and less funding and resources. They do their best and when a fire like this happens 45 basically blames them when his government is the one choking off funds for fire prevention, etc.
Yeah, I’m sure the workers who are in charge of the forests/federal land do the best they can, but it’s not like they can reverse climate change (which is a big, big factor in these fires) by themselves. That would be something the Orange Dictator could do something about, though….
And the Forest Service, don’t forget the Forest Service. The Plumas National Forest is just east of Paradise. And fire runs uphill.
Yes, the people that perished in their cars is so haunting. I can’t imagine the terror they faced.
No matter how many times we see videos and pictures of complete destruction like this, we never expect it to happen to ourselves. So sorry to everyone living through this heartbreaking disaster. Tragedies like wild fires, hurricanes, and other natural disasters seem to be becoming a regular thing and wiping out entire towns and lives. So scary
We were ordered evacuate from calabasas on Friday due to the woosley fire.
It happened very fast, we barely had time to process what was going on.
The firefighters have done an amazing job but there is no way there is enough manpower for all the houses to be saved.
And there are now about 200,000 people under manditory evacuation orders from the fire just like us. Which is just nuts.
The family (and our big puppy) are now safely ensconced on the west side of LA in an empty house borrowed from a friend, so we are very, very lucky.
Please stay safe, and good luck with everything. This kind of thing happens so fast, even when you know there’s a risk.
Thanks Beth.
So glad you’re okay, sorry you have to go through this.
Thanks, we will be fine, but everyone is tired and ready to go home (and we are in the best circumstances possible). My heart goes out to the people who are in shelters and to those who have lost their homes.
Fires, floods, shootings and yesterday an earthquake(centered in our town) and I still wouldn’t live anywhere else in the US. California feels like a small country, a resistance that won’t be intimidated by the dump presidency. Please donate to Calfire.
I wouldn’t live anywhere else either, unless I won the lottery and moved to another country.
We ARE a country—actually not a small one but a very large one in that we have the 5th-largest economy on earth and thus subsidize red states all over America. It’s a shame CA is so under-represented in the Senate, considering we have the same number of senators as The Dakotas, Wyoming, and Montana. All things being equal, we have 2 kick-ass senators and a Supermajority of Democrats plus a new governor, with the biggest monetary surplus ($13 b) aiming to wage war against Emperor Zero.
Should be fun if we can survive flooding, fires, earthquakes, and the occasional wing nut here.
I visit other countries and love them, but then so happy to come back to my little piece of paradise in Santa Barbara. I do think of us as our own country right now for all the reasons you gave. As California goes, so follows the nation. Feeling like Arizona is turning blue and Texas not far behind. The fires are terrifying and we had a horrible time with the Thomas fire last year. Hopefully these 2nd rounds of winds will die down and we can get fire contained.
I also long for the day when I don’t wake up to a trump tweet filled with lies and racism and hatred. He is a disgrace and an embarrassment and a blight upon our country.
Well California is one of the largest exporters of people. People routinely move from CA to neighboring states and a mass influx of Californians have infiltrated Texas, hence Texas slowing changing purple. By 2050, if trends continue, the entire state will be blue.
Sorry Texas (if this bothers you)!
I too have traveled quite a bit and I have to say that Santa Barbara is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places I’ve ever seen.
I was just in San Diego last month for my uncle’s memorial service & my brother and I had the pleasure of trying a few different fish taco places. The NICEST people working at these restaurants that are, for whatever reason, often located in strip malls. I cannot begin to describe what passes for a fish taco out here in Boston and for three times the cost. There’s a lot to love about California for sure.
Stay safe, friends, we need you to continue fighting in solidarity with your fellow blue states.
Same, Faithmobile, same. I love our state, I’d never live anywhere other than California.
If my whole life weren’t here, I’d love to live in California.
My best wishes to anyone here who is affected, please stay safe and hang in there.
Maybe some of the big bucks tech companies in CA can have a change of heart and start paying their fair share of taxes to help fight fires and research the impacts of climate change. Or maybe they’re just packing up to head to New Zealand now that things are getting real. Long live California!
We have family that were evacuated in Thousand Oaks and West Lakes. My niece still doesn’t know if she has a home left or not. We know the home my SIL just sold in Malibu and moved from
is gone, so is the high school my great niece just graduated from.. she is devastated, her grandfather that raised her had also just passed away so the last 18 months have been rough. My heart goes out to the family that just bought their home only to have to flee it and now it’s gone. So sad and so many lives tore apart.. it’s just heart breaking. Then our so called President decides to be his usual disturbing self on Twitter Saturday. That was gutless and heartless, but that’s Trump! Instead of reassuring those in harms way he makes things worse, especially since it was his Admthat gutted the Forestry Dept’s budget in Cali. The fire fighters are tremendous heroes! As are those nameless people who stayed behind to help them. My SIL was/is in Texas was visiting friends but stuck there til she knows if she has a home she can go back to when it’s all said and done. She was told FF and some neighbors that stayed behind to help were using the lake by her new home to keep their homes wet and safe. At least that was the last word before yesterday. With the winds predicted to pick back up Cali needs more prayers than ever. I agree w/ my SIL it is so classy of the celebrities to stand up and ask the rest of us to please help a nd donate to the FireFighters Funds. They really need them.
I know this is a gossip blog so not a critique, but I hope the coverage of celebrities doesn’t overshadow the non-famous and non-rich folks who have lost everything in these fires. Paradise in particular was a retirement community, those people have no resources to bounce back from this tragedy. The town also lost their hospital with an ICU which is a major loss in that area, which has a shortage of hospitals and doctors as it is. Please donate to the recovery if you can.
And once those fires are extinguished and that communities will have received the help they need, we’ll also need to talk about climate change and how those celebrities’ houses with their ginormous energy and water consumption influence drought patterns. We’ll also need to talk about urban planning, how we need to keep a proper interface between wild lands and houses, stop the suburban expansion and so on. Because otherwise this will keep happening and it’ll become worst every year.
Good point. I saw a photo of Caitlin Jenner’s house–way up on a ridgeline, the last house on a long & winding road, nothing but dry brush all around. I think if you build way up there, you should NOT expect firefighters to defend your home from wildland fire.
There are non-famous, non-rich people that live in Malibu as well. One of my family friends who is a teacher had her house completely leveled. Out of the many people I know in the Malibu area, she was the most vulnerable and she lost the most.
This has been very devastating for many, many people.
I live near The Camp Fire. The City of Paradise, population 27,000,
80 to 90% has been wiped out. 6,453 residences have been destroyed. Thus far 29 fatalities with over 200 still missing.
James Woods (yes that one) has been tweeting since the SoCal fires started re evacatution, places to find help, find missing persons/pets etc. Chris Evans was the one who gave a shout out about his efforts. It goes to show that in the face of emergencies, most Americans can put aside their differences to help out (unlike a certain baby on European vacation).
I couldn’t help but think about what I would grab if I only had minutes to evacuate. I guess you decide quickly what truly matters to you. The rest is just stuff. I figure if I have my cat, my purse w/ phone, my laptop, some pictures if there’s time, and the clothes on my back – that’s about all I need! My heart goes out to all that lost their homes or life and especially to the firefighters for putting their lives on the line. I’m so sorry 45 continues to fail you whether it be with words or with actions.
I lived in CA for 18 years. Malibu Canyon burns a lot. It perplexes me as to why people keep building huge, expensive homes there.
I kinda feel the same way about the million dollar homes right slap on the beachfront. I live in the Florida Panhandle and we get the shit kicked out of us by hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods every few years or so. It’s gnarly enough inland, but right ON the beach? Forget it.
That being said, fires and earthquakes make our shit seem like a walk in the park. I can’t imagine how scary.