As Milo Ventimiglia and his wife Jarah Mariano expect the arrival of their first child, the two have tragically lost their home to the Los Angeles wildfires.
The Emmy-nominated actor and “This Is Us” alum revealed his family’s Malibu home burned down during an interview with CBS News published Thursday. As part of the interview, Ventimiglia took a tour of his neighborhood with CBS host Tony Dokoupil to survey the damage to his home, which proved to be an emotional visit.
“You start thinking about all the memories in different parts of the house and what not,” a visibly choked up Ventimiglia said. “And then you see your neighbors’ houses and everything kind of around, and your heart just breaks.”
Ventimiglia shared that he and Mariano, who evacuated on Tuesday, watched their California residence go up in flames through security surveillance footage: “At a certain point, we just turned it off. … We kind of accepted the loss.”
Firefighters on Thursday continued to battle multiple deadly wildfires that erupted across Los Angeles since Tuesday, destroying or damaging an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 homes, businesses, vehicles and other structures.
At least six fires were active in LA County, scorching more than 40 square miles across the region, according to Cal Fire. The Palisades Fire in the coastal Pacific Palisades community and the Eaton Fire, located east in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, remained the largest blazes with 0% containment.
In an ironic parallel, Ventimiglia’s “This Is Us” character Jack Pearson died of smoke inhalation following a house fire. “You know, it’s not lost on me, life imitating art,” Ventimiglia told Dokoupil.
Hollywood is also feeling the brunt of the fiery conditions. Stars such as Paris Hilton, James Woods, Cameron Mathison, Billy Crystal and Tina Knowles are among the famous faces who’ve been displaced by the wildfires.
However, Ventimiglia remained optimistic about his family’s future despite the natural disaster. Mariano, who is nine months pregnant, is due “any day now.”
“We got good friends, and we got good people we’re working with, and we’ll make do,” Ventimiglia said. “Wife and baby and dog — (that’s) most important.”
