Actor Dennis Quaid is among those who evacuated with his family due to the Palisades Fire, and as evacuation orders expanded into Encino and the Mandeville Canyon area, he said the destruction was hard to comprehend.
“‘Who would have thought?” Quaid told NBC Los Angeles on air after he retrieved some of his daughter’s belongings tonight. “Who would have thought? We’ve all had a really big lesson — that our experience of reality can change in a moment.”
The powerful Santa Ana winds and massive fires in the Los Angeles region are occurring in January, which in the past has been a low season for wildfires in Southern California. But the region is dry and has not gotten the rain that typically occurs, officials have said.
Quaid said his home was on the very edge of the first evacuation zone due to the fire, but they left this week and are staying at a hotel. He said he had returned to make sure the gas was off and to help neighbors since then.
“We’ve had it lucky,” he said, adding that his agent and another friend are among those whose houses have been destroyed. “What do you do?” he said.
Quaid called firefighters and other first responders heroes.
“We’re lucky that we have them. And they, on a moment’s notice, they’ll do it, and put their lives on the line,” he said.