Actor James Woods recalled the chaotic moments Tuesday afternoon in Pacific Palisades as a deadly wildfire began to sweep through his neighborhood, destroying house after house.
Woods and his family fled their home as the flames grew closer and closer. He doesn’t know if his house is still standing, but told “The Ingraham Angle” Wednesday that “it’s possible.”
“It’s amazing that what happened in this experiment was that we discovered that none of us are celebrities. None of us are poor people or rich people, Democrats or Republicans. .We were just neighbors, we really helped each other out,” Woods said.
PALISADES FIRE DESTROYS HIGH SCHOOL FEATURED IN SEVERAL HOLLYWOOD MOVIES
A structure burns during the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States, Tuesday, January 7, 2025. Uncontrolled wildfires have ravaged parts of the Los Angeles area, fanned by extreme winds, forcing thousands of residents to flee and grounding firefighting planes. Photographer: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images
THE multiple Emmy Award winner added that his neighbor rushed to his house after he and his family were evacuated to try to stop the flames from reaching his deck, and even stayed overnight to fight the fire.
“It was an extraordinary experience to realize how essential good neighbors, good friends, good parents are[s] [are]”Woods said.
His neighbor told him Wednesday morning that the houses to his left and right had burned, as well as “all the houses” across the street, but that Woods’ roof was still visible.
PHOTO GALLERY: PALISADES FIRE BEFORE AND AFTER
A fire-damaged Bank of America branch is visible after the Palisades Fire swept through the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (Eugene Garcia/AP)
Authorities estimated Wednesday morning that more than 1,000 structures have burned as the wildfire continues to besiege Los Angeles County.
Woods told Fox News host Laura Ingraham that he saw a fire truck parked outside his house as the fire began to grow, but firefighters couldn’t pump any water because “there was none”.
Erik Scott, the public information officer for the Los Angeles Fire Department, acknowledged in an article on X that there were indeed challenges when it came to water pressure.
“LADWP [Los Angeles Department of Water and Power] proactively filled all available water storage tanks, including three million-gallon tanks located in the Palisades area,” Scott wrote. “However, water availability has been affected by higher elevations, which affected some hydrants due to limited replenishment of water reservoirs in those areas. The extreme demand has resulted in a slower filling rate of these tanks, which has created a challenge for our firefighting efforts. »
An air tanker made a drop on the Palisades Fire. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Woods called out California Governor Gavin Newsom for his alleged mismanagement of the fires and said the current wildfire aftermath is more than a “wake-up call.”
“If it’s true that things were handled this way. If it’s true that Gavin Newsom is the absolute idiot that I believe he is in the way he has handled the management of the fires in this state over and over and over and over, it’s not true. “It’s not a red flag. That’s the kind of thing they have courts for — where they try people and say you took an oath to do certain tasks,” Woods said.
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“When you’re a fire chief, it’s not a social justice exercise that you’re responsible for. It’s about getting water to areas that need it because there are fires in winds blowing at hundreds of kilometers per hour burning houses to the ground.”
