Mandy Moore Describes Scary Evacuation From L.A Wildfire: ‘So Gutted For the Destruction and Loss’
Mandy Moore is among the tens of thousands of Angelenos who’ve been forced to evacuate in the midst of the devastating, fast-moving wildfires that have engulfed the Los Angeles area of the past 24 hours. “Evacuated and safe with kids, dogs and cats,” the This Is Us star and “When I Wasn’t Watching” singer wrote in an Instagram Story on Wednesday (Jan. 8).
“Praying and grateful for the first responders,” she added. In a second slide of Moore with one of her three children with husband Dawes singer/guitarist Taylor Goldsmith, she wrote, “grateful for the kindness of friends that we had a place to land last night. Trying to shield the kids from the immense sadness and worry I feel. Praying for everyone in our beautiful city. So gutted for the destruction and loss. Don’t know if our place made it.”
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The singer who released her seventh studio album, In Real Life, in 2022 and who scored the hits “Candy” in 1999 (No. 41 on the Billboard Hot 100) and “I Wanna Be With You” in 2000 (No. 24), added a hashtag for the Eaton Fire, which according to NBC News has killed two people and burned more than 2,200 acres to date, with zero percent containment.
That fire, as well as the Palisades and Hurst fires, have burned nearly 8,000 acres and destroyed more than 1,000 homes and businesses so far in the parched Los Angeles region that has seen only a fifth of an inch of rain since July, marking the second-driest season in the downtown area in 150 years of record-keeping. The blazes have been fed and spread by the destructive annual Santa Ana winds, which at times have whipped up to nearly 100 m.p.h., sending embers flying through the air as fire crews struggle to contain the blazes that experts say are already one of the most destructive to hit the region in recent memory.
In addition to the evacuations and homes and other structures destroyed, NBC reported that more than 300,000 Angelenos have lost power.
The Associated Press reported that in addition to Moore, the Pacific Palisades fire has displaced Star Wars icon Mark Hamill and actor James Woods in he hillside neighborhood along the coast that is home to many stars and which was name-checked in the Beach Boys’ 1963 classic “Surfin’ USA.” In a testament to the speed of the out-of-control fire, news reports featured footage of fire crews using bulldozers to clear streets littered with abandoned cars clogging the roadways, left behind by fleeing residents. Other stars who live in the area where 30,000 residents are under evacuation orders include Adam Sandler, Ben Affleck, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg.
Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker’s kids, Landon and Alabama, were also forced to evacuate from their Palisades homes, while former reality TV stars Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag (The Hills) reported themselves safe after their Palisades home burned to the ground.
NBC also reported that Lakers coach JJ Redick said his family was evacuated from their homes on Tuesday due to the Palisades fire. In addition to a number of school closures, Universal Studios closed its park in Hollywood and Universal CityWalk and the L.A. premieres of the Robbie Williams biopic Better Man and the Blumhouse horror movie Wolf Man, as well as Jennifer Lopez’s wrestling drama Unstoppable have been cancelled; the SAG Awards also called off their in-person nominations announcement on Wednesday.
Another, smaller blaze dubbed the Tyler Fire was 100% contained at press time, with fire officials saying that at this point the causes of the various conflagrations is not yet known.
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