- Fires have broken out in Los Angeles and are raging in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood.
- Stars including Paris Hilton, Billy Crystal and Rainn Wilson have lost their homes.
- The median home price in the North LA area is $4.5 million, according to Realtor.com data.
The largest fires in Los Angeles are raging in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood. Stars including Paris Hilton and Billy Crystal have lost their homes.
The area, located between Santa Monica and Malibu north of Los Angeles, is home to some of the country’s most expensive real estate. The median home price is $4.5 million, according to Realtor.com data. Ben Affleck, for example, bought his $20.5 million mansion there in July.
Other celebrities, including Tom Hanks, Reese Witherspoon, Michael Keaton, Adam Sandler, Miles Teller and Eugene Levy, also live in the neighborhood.
The fire started Tuesday in Pacific Palisades before spreading west toward the Malibu stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway. On Wednesday, the city of Malibu issued a statement to X advising residents to prepare to evacuate. By Thursday, it had spread to 27 square miles in area.
Paris Hilton said she “built precious memories” in her rundown Malibu home
On Wednesday, Paris Hilton shared on Instagram that she was “heartbroken beyond words” when she learned that her Malibu home had been destroyed by fire.
“Sitting with my family, watching the news, and seeing our house in Malibu burn to the ground on live TV is something no one should ever have to experience,” Hilton wrote. “This home was where we built so many precious memories.”
Although the loss felt “overwhelming,” she said she was thankful her family and pets were safe.
Melissa Rivers, daughter of the late actor and comedian Joan Rivers, said her house burned down in an Instagram post Wednesday.
“My family and I have been safely evacuated and are deeply grateful to be unharmed,” she wrote. “My heart is broken by the devastation caused by the fires, which have tragically destroyed my home.”
She also shared more details about her evacuation and urged others to prepare in a live interview with CNN.
“To be 100% honest, I got my mom’s Emmy, a picture of my dad, and a drawing my mom made of me and my son,” she said.
Photos obtained by People showed that actors John Goodman, Anthony Hopkins and Miles Teller have lost their homes to the fires.
The home actor Jeff Bridges shared with his family in Malibu was also lost, according to the AP.
Billy Crystal’s home, where he had lived with his family for 46 years, burned to the ground.
“We raised our children and grandchildren here. Every inch of our home was filled with love. Beautiful memories that cannot be taken away. Obviously we are heartbroken, but with the love of our children and friends we will get through this.” Crystal said in a statement to Business Insider.
“Pacific Palisade is a resilient community of amazing people, and we know that in time it will rise again. It’s our home,” he said.
Oscar-nominated actor James Woods wrote on Wednesday X: “All the smoke detectors are going off in our house and streaming on our iPhones. I couldn’t believe our beautiful little house in the hills held up so long. It feels like losing a loved one.”
“The Hills” stars Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt also lost their home.
“I’m so sad that our house is gone. I wish I could have gone back and gotten more,” Montag said as she broke down in tears in a video she posted to TikTok on Wednesday.
TMZ meanwhile released footage of Adam Brody and Leighton Meester’s home on fire, as well as a photo of Anna Faris’ home in ashes.
Rainn Wilson, the actor who played Dwight Schrute on NBC’s “The Office,” said his Palisades home was gutted by the fire. In a video shared on TikTok on Thursday, Wilson was shown walking through the “remnants” of parts of his home that burned down. “It’s not something I ever thought I’d do,” he said.
“There’s some kind of valuable lesson here, I’m not sure what it is—kind of, death and fire teach you a lesson about the impermanence of life and the value of what we have, so I hope you all stay grateful today for what you have,” he added.
Wilson said he was “grateful” that most of his home was still intact.
Singer Diane Warren, a 15-time Oscar nominee who has worked with stars such as Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, shared on Instagram that her beach house of nearly 30 years is likely gone.
“It looks like it was lost in the fire last night. There is a rainbow shining over it which I am taking as a sign of hope for all creatures affected by this tragedy,” Warren wrote. “The animals and the rescue farm are okay, that’s the most important thing. Stay safe everyone.”
On Wednesday, “The Princess Bride” actor Cary Elwes wrote on Instagram that he and his family evacuated the area safely, but said their home was destroyed.
He wrote: “Sadly we lost our home but are thankful to have survived this truly devastating fire. Our hearts go out to all the families affected by this tragic event and we would also like to express our gratitude to all the firefighters, first responders and law enforcement who worked so tirelessly through the night and are still at it.”
Ricki Lake, star of the original “Hairspray” movie and her self-titled show, wrote in an Instagram post Wednesday that her “dream home” overlooking Malibu is “gone.”
In the caption, Lake said she and her husband ran away from home with Dolly, their dog, “and not much else.”
Mark Hamill evacuated his home and described the fire as ‘terrible’
Among at least 130,000 LA residents asked to evacuate their homes was “Star Wars” actor Mark Hamill. He said on Instagram that he left his Malibu home on Tuesday with his wife, Marilou, and their dog, Trixie. He described it as “the worst fire since ’93”.
“Malibu was evacuated so at the last minute there were small fires on both sides of the road as we approached PCH,” he wrote.
Levy told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday that he got stuck while trying to leave his neighborhood. “The smoke looked pretty black and intense over Temescal Canyon,” Levy said. “I couldn’t see any flames, but the smoke was very dark.”
Chet Hanks, son of actors Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, wrote in an Instagram story on Tuesday: “The neighborhood I grew up in is burning to the ground. Pray for Palisades.”
Chet Hanks shared a message about the fire on Instagram. Chet Hanks/Instagram Stories
Actor and singer Mandy Moore said in an Instagram story posted Tuesday that she was among the residents ordered to evacuate. By Wednesday, the singer said in a follow-up story that she wasn’t sure if her house “made it.”
“Honestly, I’m in shock and feel numb for all those who have lost, including my family,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “My children’s school is gone. Our favorite restaurants, flattened. So many friends and loved ones have lost everything too.”
Jamie Lee Curtis said ‘many’ friends had lost their homes
On Wednesday night, “Halloween” actor Jamie Lee Curtis appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and said, holding back tears, “Where I live is on fire right now.”
She added: “It’s just a disaster in Southern California. Of course, there have been terrible fires in many places. This is where I literally live. Everything – the market where I shop, the schools where my children go, my friends.
“Many, many, many, many, many, many friends have now lost their homes.”
Kate Beckinsale wrote in an Instagram post on Wednesday that “the whole Palisada being torn down is absolutely horrible.
“My daughter and I lived there for most of her childhood and most of her childhood is gone.”
The Serendipity actor shared several other posts, including one thanking local firefighters and another sharing information about putting together an emergency kit.
Industry events in Hollywood have been cancelled
Palisades Charter High School was also affected, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The campus was used for movies including “Carrie,” “Freaky Friday,” “Project X” and the MTV TV series “Teen Wolf.”
The premieres of “Wolf Man” and “Unstoppable,” scheduled for Tuesday, were canceled.
‘It’s the year of fire’
The fire that started Tuesday spread quickly thanks to Santa Ana winds, which produced gusts of up to 100 mph. The drought in Southern California also worsened the situation, creating dangerously dry conditions.
Wildfires in the western U.S. have grown steadily larger and more severe for decades, while the time of increased danger known as the “fire season” has grown longer each year.
A paper published in 2023 by researchers from the University of California, Irvine, found that the human-caused climate crisis is the “primary driver” of the state’s increase in wildfires over the past quarter century.
“November, December, now January — there’s no fire season, it’s a fire year. It’s year-round,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a news conference Tuesday.
In 2018, the Woolsey fire burned almost 100,000 hectares of land in California, affecting famous Malibu residents such as Lady Gaga, Gerard Butler, Miley Cyrus and several members of the Kardashian family.
Kim Kardashian and her then-husband Kanye West were widely criticized for hiring private firefighters to protect their $60 million Hidden Hills home.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
