Los Angeles Inadvertently Sends Countywide Evacuation Warning Amid Fires
As fires continue to rage around Southern California, Milo Ventimiglia is one of many to lose his home in the tragedy.
After evacuating with his family on Tuesday, the 3x Emmy nominee opened up about the "heavy" experience of losing their home in the Malibu Fire while surveying the damage, noting "it hits you so quick" as he choked up.
"You start thinking about all the memories in the different parts of the house and whatnot," said Ventimiglia on CBS Evening News. "Then you see your neighbors' houses and everything around, and your heart just breaks."
He noted that he and wife Jarah Mariano saw the fire consume their home on security cameras.
"I think there's a kind of shock moment where you're going, 'Oh, this is real, and this is happening,'" he explained. "And then at a certain point, we just turned it off. What good is it to continue watching? We kind of accepted the loss."
As he and Mariano prepare to welcome their first baby, Ventimiglia noted their crib was one of the items lost in the flames. "Everything was set up," he said.
"We've got good friends, and we've got good people we're working with," said Ventimiglia. "We'll make do. Wife and baby and dog are most important."
Ventimiglia also acknowledged the coincidence of his This Is Us patriarch character Jack Pearson saving his family from a house fire before dying of cardiac arrest caused by smoke inhalation. "It's not lost on me, life imitating art," he said.
His former onscreen wife Mandy Moore was also one of many who were forced to evacuate amid the fires, as stars like Paris Hilton, Adam Brody, Leighton Meester and Billy Crystal have lost their homes.
Fires have broken out in Malibu, the Pacific Palisades, Eaton Canyon, the Hollywood Hills and other areas around Los Angeles County amid a "life-threatening and destructive" windstorm that picked up Tuesday.
As of Thursday, at least six people have died in the Southern California wildfires, which have forced nearly 180,000 people to evacuate and left more than 1.5 million without power.
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."
