Dennis Quaid Gets Emotional as He Reveals ‘Many Friends Have Lost’ Their Homes in Los Angeles Fires: ‘What Do You Do?'
“We’re fighting as hard as we can to save our city," the actor said in an interview after being evacuated from his home in Brentwood, California
“We’re fighting as hard as we can to save our city," the actor said in an interview after being evacuated from his home in Brentwood, California Chad Salvador/Variety via Getty; Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Dennis Quaid:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/Dennis-Quaid-Fire-Evacuation-011124-f249c5bffd1448a5b721e4d4d7c219a0.jpg "Dennis Quaid and Palisades Fire")
Dennis Quaid is sharing his account of escaping the wildfires in Los Angeles.
The actor, 70, said he “had it lucky” as he spoke about the evacuation in his neighborhood of Brentwood, Calif., amid the devastation brought on by the Los Angeles wildfires.
“We woke up to this big plume of smoke. That was a real exciting day as far as here in the Palisades, it went up on Wednesday,” Quaid told NBC 4 Los Angeles, per a video shared on X.
“It came within 150 yards of the house and these guys with their planes came down and put that retardant down there. And those helicopter pilots, they’re incredible, what they do,” he continued. “And I can’t say enough about the firefighters and the first responders in this town. We got some good ones, good people here.”
Quaid said of the people in his hometown “We’re fighting as hard as we can to save our city,” adding, “Gosh, I never thought I’d say that. But that’s what’s going on.” Frazer Harrison/Getty Quaid pictured in February 2024
Related: Celebrities Who Have Lost Homes or Had to Evacuate in the Los Angeles Fires, and What They've Said
The Substance star, who is married to Laura Savoie, revealed that “We were on the edge of the first evacuation zone” in the Palisades fire.
“So we’ve had it lucky,” he continued. “I’ve have so many friends who have lost. My agent, he lost both of his houses, and another good friend over at Palisades had just moved into a house and was renting the other one. He lost both of them.
"What do you do, just to rebuild? You start thinking about how long it takes to put a house together and then you can’t really hold it in your mind," he added.
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Quaid is among several celebrities who have shared their experiences after their homes were impacted by the wildfires that began in the Pacific Palisades on Jan. 7. Over 80,000 people have been displaced in total. PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty A helicopter drops water flames from the Palisades fire burning behind Mulholland drive in L.A. on Jan. 10
Related: L.A. Fires Live: 11 Dead, Officials Say, as Firefighters Make Slight Progress Towards Containment
The actor previously praised and thanked the firefighters who tended to the wildfires in his local area in an interview on Jan 8.
“I can't say enough about the firefighters who have been here,” Quaid told Fox News. “They've really made the difference. They're the guys that are running in when everybody else is running out. And they made a difference right here on my block.”
Quaid said in reflection of the tragedy, “I've been through several fires here in California in my 45 years that I’ve been here and this is the worst one bar none."
