Hollywood actor James Woods broke down in tears during a Wednesday interview on CNN as he described losing his home in the destructive wildfires currently raging across the Pacific Palisades.
The wildfires spreading across Los Angeles County have left at least two people dead, and forced tens of thousands of Californians to evacuate their homes, with many already not having a home to return to. Woods tearfully described how he helped his 94-year-old neighbor, who had been home alone with dementia, evacuate his home.
The 77-year-old actor believed his neighbor had been in the hospital until he called the elderly man’s son, who confirmed that his father had been released from the hospital the day before. Woods then called 911, leading first responders to enter the 94-year-old’s home and help him evacuate. An hour later, the house burned down.
“I knew he was in the hospital, and I don’t know, God was on his side,” Woods told CNN’s Pamela Brown. “I decided to call his son in Massachusetts and say ‘hey, Francis, just to be sure. Your dad’s still in the hospital, right?’ He said, ‘no, he got home last night and there’s a new caregiver and I don’t have the number.’ And they wouldn’t let us back up, so I finally got through to 911 and said ‘welfare check, you got to go check on this guy’ … He had been left alone. And it turned out the fire department made the new caregiver leave, she just does as she’s told. There was so much chaos, it was like an inferno. Every house was on fire around us.”
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Soon after, Woods’ and his neighbors’ homes went up in flames. He grew emotional as he recalled his wife’s 8-year-old niece handing him and his spouse, Sara Miller-Woods, a Yeti piggy bank to help them rebuild their house.
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“Sara was on with her 8-year-old niece last night, she came out — I’m sorry, just you know, one day you’re swimming in the pool and the next day it’s all gone. But she came out with her little Yeti piggy bank for us to rebuild our house,” an emotional Woods said. “I’m sorry, I thought I’d be stronger than this.”
The “Once Upon a Time in America” actor said he and his wife had just finished renovating their home last month. He assured people in an X post on Tuesday that the most “priceless possession” during a crisis is friends, family and neighbors.
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