James Woods survived the worst of the Pacific Palisades fire, but he’s still reeling from the natural disaster ravaging Los Angeles.
The Oscar-nominated actor, who previously opened up on social media about fleeing his home amid the blaze, detailed the harrowing evacuation during an interview with CNN’s Pamela Brown on Wednesday.
Woods said he and his family were in the “exact epicenter of the fire as it started” and were forced to evacuate with the “clothes on our back.”
Powerful Santa Ana winds whipped up several wildfires across LA County since Tuesday, killing at least five people and setting homes ablaze. Winds were expected to ease overnight Wednesday, but forecasters warned conditions will remain critical through at least Thursday.
Fueled by a severe wind storm pummeling Los Angeles County, a bushfire spread over 1,200 acres Tuesday in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood and forced the evacuation of thousands of homes. On Wednesday, the Palisades Fire continued to pulverize homes and buildings and was burning at 15,832 acres between the beach towns of Santa Monica and Malibu.
“There was so much chaos. It was like an inferno,” Woods told Brown. “Every house was on fire around us.”
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He added: “One day you’re swimming in the pool and the next day it’s all gone.”
Woods got emotional at various points throughout the interview as he recalled the events of the fire and the destruction of his home, which he had recently moved into after three years of renovations. The “Salvador” star also helped orchestrate the rescue of his 94-year-old neighbor, who has dementia.
“I thought I would be stronger than this,” a teary-eyed Woods said, to which Brown replied, “Strength is not measured by whether you hold in crying or not. Strength is what you are doing now in helping your neighbors and shining a light on the great, amazing work of all those firefighters and emergency crews.”
Woods isn’t the only celebrity residing in the Pacific Palisades area, an affluent residential neighborhood about 20 miles west of Downtown Los Angeles.
A number of stars, including Jennifer Aniston, Bradley Cooper, Eugene Levy, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Adam Sandler and Michael Keaton, reportedly call the region home, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Pacific Palisades fire has also brought several disruptions to Hollywood this week, including the postponement of Sunday’s Critics’ Choice Awards and the cancellation of movie premieres.
On Tuesday, Woods shared in an X post that he was able to “evacuate successfully” but lamented the fire’s devastation, writing, “I do not know at this moment if our home is still standing, but sadly, houses on our little street are not.”
