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With more than 5,000 structures destroyed in the Palisades Fire, Dennis Quaid expressed his concerns for his home and community.
As the Golden Globe nominee evacuated his Pacific Palisades home on Friday night, he opened up about his family’s experience since the fires broke out this week, noting they’ve “had it lucky” so far.
“Tuesday, we woke up to this big plume of smoke. That was a real exciting day as far as here in the Palisades, it went up,” he told KNBC. “And Wednesday, it came within 150 yards of the house and these guys with their planes came down and put that retardant down there. And those helicopter pilots, they’re incredible, what they do. And I can’t say enough about the firefighters and the first responders in this town. We got some good ones, good people here.”
Quaid added, “And we’re fighting as hard as we can to save our city. Gosh, I never thought I’d say that. But that’s what’s going on.”
The Substance actor said his house was “on the very edge of the first evacuation zone” of the Palisades Fire. “So we’ve had it lucky. I have so many friends who have lost — my agent, he lost both of his houses, and another good friend over at Palisades, he just moved into a house and was renting the other one. He lost both of them,” he said.
“What do you do, just to rebuild?” asked Quaid. “You start thinking about how long it takes to put a house together and then you can’t really hold it in your mind.”
Fires have broken out in the Pacific Palisades, Eaton Canyon, Malibu, the Hollywood Hills and other areas around Los Angeles County amid a “life-threatening and destructive” windstorm that picked up Tuesday.
As of Saturday, at least 11 people have died in the Southern California wildfires, which have forced approximately 105,000 people to evacuate the Palisades area, destroying at least 5,316 structures, including 426 homes. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has received 13 missing persons reports.
President Joe Biden, who extended his Los Angeles trip on Wednesday to visit first responders and those affected, declared the fires a major disaster.
“Over 100,000 people have been ordered to evacuate communities impacted by the Southern California wildfires,” wrote Biden on X. “At least two people have been killed. And many more are injured — including firefighters. It’s devastating. To the residents of Southern California: We are with you.”
