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Palisades Fire: 'General Hospital' star Cameron Mathison’s home destroyed as celebs flee ritzy neighborhood
Pacific Palisades Fire engulfs homes on mountain
Reality TV star Spencer Pratt filmed fire engulfing his home and others in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood after he and wife Heidi Montag were forced to evacuate. (Credit: Spencer Pratt / Snapchat)
A wildfire raging through the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles has forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate as it consumes homes in the ritzy area, including those belonging to celebrities.
The Palisades Fire, driven by strong Santa Ana winds, began in the Santa Monica Mountains late Tuesday morning and quickly engulfed 200 acres within an hour, surging to nearly 3,000 acres by sunset, FOX Weather reported.
Orange County Fire Chief Brian Fennessy joined “Fox News @ Night” on Tuesday to give an update on how firefighters are battling the fast-moving flames, but said there isn’t much that can be done to stop them, so crews are focusing on evacuating and rescuing anyone still in the area.
“Our main focus is getting people, lives out of the way of these fires,” Fennessy said. “There’s not a lot we can do other than get people out of the way of these fires and then try to attack them … certainly in the Palisades, that’s been the story today.”
PACIFIC PALISADES INFERNO FORCES THOUSANDS TO FLEE CALIFORNIA HOMES; GOV. NEWSOM DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY
A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Jill Connelly/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Cameron Mathison shared that his family’s home has been destroyed. (Getty Images)
“General Hospital” actor Cameron Mathison, who evacuated the area on Tuesday, shared a video on Instagram of his property, completely decimated by the fire.
“We are safe But this is what’s left of our beautiful home,” he wrote. “Our home where our kids were raised and where they wanted to raise their own someday. “Thanks to all who reached out and checked in. Can’t respond to all so wanted to give an update here.”
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Reality TV star Spencer Pratt and wife Heidi Montag lost their home in the Palisades Fire, Pratt and Montag confirmed on their Snapchat accounts Tuesday.
In a series of videos, “The Hills” star showed how the fire quickly moved over the hill toward their property.
ACTOR STEVE GUTTENBERG HELPS PALISADES FIRE FIRST RESPONDERS AS FLAMES RAGE, ‘IT’S A GHOST TOWN’
“Well, this isn’t looking good,” Pratt said while videoing the fire on the mountain behind their home. “First time I’ve seen the flames coming over. Aw, man. Okay, I’m going to go pack up I think.”
He later posted a video from his car stating that he was watching their home burn down on their security cameras. Pratt shared a photo of his kid’s room, saying it had burned in the shape of a heart.
Spencer Pratt shared imagery from inside his home, captured by security cameras. (Spencer Pratt/Snapchat)
Montag posted a video in a grocery store stating that their house did burn, but they are safe.
“Well, this isn’t looking good. First time I’ve seen the flames coming over. Aw man. OK, I’m going to go pack up I think.”
Reality TV star Spencer Pratt shared a picture from his security camera as his house was engulfed by the Palisades Fire. (Spencer Pratt/Snapchat)
“Star Wars” actor Mark Hamill, who lives in Malibu, told followers that he had evacuated “so last-minute” that fires had formed on both sides of the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) – his avenue out of the city. “We were fleeing for our lives,” he wrote in a post to Instagram. Hamill says he, his wife Marilou and dog Trixie evacuated to his daughter Chelsea’s home in Hollywood.
Last month, when fires raged across Malibu, Hamill was “not allowed” to leave his home, forced into lockdown mode.
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Jamie Lee Curtis wrote that her “community and possibly my home is on fire,” to social media, along with a harrowing image of the wildfires. “My family is safe. Many of my friends will lose their homes. Many other communities as well. There are so many conflicting reports. With all the technology there seems to be very little information. PLEASE POST FACTS! IT WILL HELP THOSE WONDERING!”
She continued, “It is a terrifying situation and I’m grateful to the firefighters and all of the good Samaritans who are helping people get out of the way of the blaze. Neighbors have taken care of neighbors. We ALL take everything for granted because we are all living our lives but when it hits your community, it’s particularly shocking. Life on life’s terms. If ever there was need for the use of the phrase MY HAND IN YOURS, it is right now. Take care of each other. Stay out of the way and let the firefighters do their work. Pray if you believe in it and even if you don’t, pray for those who do.”
Actress Mandy Moore shared on her Instagram story that she and her three children, as well as cats and dogs, were able to evacuate, writing “Praying and grateful for the first responders.” On Wednesday morning, the actress shared that her friends had opened their home as a shelter, although she wasn’t sure if her own house had made it through the night.
“Trying to shield the kids from the immense sadness and worry I feel,” she wrote on her Instagram story. “Praying for our beautiful city. So gutted for the destruction and loss. Don’t know if our place made it.”
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Actor Chris Pratt posted on X and asked that people join him in praying for “the brave firefighters sacrificing so much to save our houses and our town.”
“Jesus protect the lives of those battling the flames and the lives of those who couldn’t evacuate,” he wrote.
Nashville resident Jessie James Decker shared ominous photos from Santa Monica. “This was earlier today during our shoot in Santa Monica right next to the fires,” she captioned one photo featuring a plume of smoke. “My stomach is in knots for the city. Praying so hard for everyone’s safety.”
Jessie James Decker shared images from Santa Monica, where she was on location for work. (Jessie James Decker Instagram)
Eugene Levy, the honorary mayor of Pacific Palisades, told the Los Angeles Times in a phone interview that he was stuck in traffic and “smoke looked pretty black and intense over Temescal Canyon. I couldn’t see any flames, but the smoke was very dark.”
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Candace Cameron Bure shared a wildfire image online and wrote that it was “devastating to watch” as the Palisades fire roared on.
“Please pray the winds die down as it’s expected to get worse into the early morning hours,” Bure wrote on Instagram. “Please pray for the safety of firefighters and emergency crews who are fearlessly trying to tackle this disaster. Pray for the safety of every resident.”
“Jesus protect the lives of those battling the flames and the lives of those who couldn’t evacuate.”
Priyanka Chopra shared similar eerie imagery, posting video of the wildfires from afar. “My thoughts are with everyone affected. Hope we are all able to stay safe tonight.”
Priyanka Chopra shared striking video of the fires. (Priyanka Chopra/Instagram)
Travis Barker’s children, Alabama and Landon Barker, both posted on Instagram stories that they were evacuating from their homes Tuesday night.
“Just evacuated from my home do to wild fires in Los Angeles, please be safe!!” Alabama wrote. “They are saying the fires are spreading football field amounts in seconds.”
Actress Denise Crosby, also in a post on X, said that she is safe, along with her husband and dog, but she is not sure if she has a house.
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Crosby shared a video from a beach on Tuesday night and followed that post up with videos from earlier in the day showing smoke near an alley behind her home and from Sunset Boulevard.
Tom Hanks’ son, Chet Hanks, posted on Instagram stories, “The neighborhood I grew up in is burning to the ground.”
Actor James Woods posted a series of videos on X showing his home and neighbors’ homes surrounded by smoke and flames. Woods said his family evacuated from the area safely, and commended first responders and community members for evacuating children from elementary schools within the neighborhood.
“To all the wonderful people who’ve reached out to us, thank you for being so concerned. Just letting you know that we were able to evacuate successfully,” Woods wrote on X. “I do not know at this moment if our home is still standing, but sadly houses on our little street are not.”
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“Shrinking” star Christa B. Miller posted a video of the flames from the Palisades fire and wrote that she was evacuating her neighborhood. She offered “love, prayers and gratitude to all the firefighters working so hard” in an Instagram post.
Professional dancer Derek Hough shared photos to his Instagram account of the fire and said he and his wife are preparing to evacuate with their pets.
“The winds are hitting 100mph, and we’re packing up, preparing to evacuate with our five animals JUST IN CASE,” Hough wrote. “It’s scary with power lines exploding around us and the fires spreading so fast.”
Derek Hough shared that he was evacuating his home. (Christopher Willard/Disney via Getty Images)
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Hough continued his post by thanking firefighters for “risking everything to keep us safe” and said he is sending prayers and love to all firefighters and victims.
Kate Beckinsale, who previously lived in the Pacific Palisades area, wrote of her devasation for the community’s loss. “Hearing the winds last night I prayed,” she wrote to Instagram. “I knew it would be bad- we had to evacuate many times during our life there – but the shock at the whole of the Palisades being destroyed is unthinkably horrific. My daughter and I lived there for most of her childhood and most of her childhood is gone,” she said, referencing her daughter, now 25.
Kate Beckinsale called the fires “hell” in an emotional social media post. (Getty Images)
“Her primary school ,every shop or restaurant we used to go to with my parents and Michael’s [Sheen] parents -and devastatingly ,most of her friends homes .My heart is broken. The Pacific Palisades is a community very unusual to find in Los Angeles, heavy on families with young children and pets, . I’m weeping for all of the people and pets involved ,so many of them I know . My heart is breaking for the families who have lost everything and the people and their animals , not to mention the horses and all the wild animals. This is just like hell. If anyone from village needs shelter and doesn’t still have a number for me ,please contact me on Instagram.”
Stars including Jessica Alba, Jennifer Aniston, Sophia Bush and Billie Eilish have shared resources on social media for those impacted by the fires.
North Carolina is beginning to plan for floods that have not happened yet.
State officials this year advanced the next phase of the state’s Flood Resiliency Blueprint, incorporating updated modeling that factors in heavier rainfall, future development and sea-level rise — a shift away from relying solely on historic data and FEMA’s regulatory maps.
“We can make decisions and plan for that future, not just the exposure to flooding that we see now,” said Stuart Brown, who manages the Flood Resiliency Blueprint for the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.
For a state that has endured record-breaking rainfall from Hurricane Helene in the mountains to Tropical Storm Chantal in the Triangle, the move reflects a growing recognition: past standards no longer capture present risk.
Beyond outdated flood lines
Multiple North Carolina studies have found that between 43% and 60% of flood damage occurs outside FEMA’s regulatory flood zones. Those maps shape insurance requirements and local zoning decisions, yet they are largely based on historical rainfall data.
“A lot of the regulatory floodplains really haven’t kept up with what we know is happening,” said Elizabeth Losos, executive in residence at Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainability.
Climate data show rainfall intensity in the Triangle has increased by about 21% since 1970. Warmer air holds more moisture, fueling heavier downpours that overwhelm drainage systems designed for a different climate.
“Fixing what we know is flooding right now is good,” Losos said. “It’s better than nothing, but it’s definitely not enough.”
Brown said the blueprint incorporates projections for future precipitation and development — a critical factor in one of the fastest-growing states in the country.
“Development can be an issue for flooding in two categories,” Brown said. “One is when that development is occurring in areas that are flood prone. The other is when that development is done in ways that don’t account for the additional stormwater that will be produced.”
Thousands of projects, limited dollars
Unlike states that rely on massive levee systems, North Carolina’s flood risk is scattered across river basins, coastal plains and rapidly developing suburbs. Brown said resilience here will require thousands of localized projects.
“We were asked by the General Assembly to provide specific, actionable projects,” Brown said. “We want to know what specific geography and what specific action is proposed.”
That planning push comes as federal support for flood research and mitigation is shrinking.
The Trump administration has proposed a roughly 30% cut to NOAA’s 2026 budget, targeting climate research and ocean services that provide the rainfall and coastal data states use to model flood risk. At FEMA, the administration has cut staff by more than 6%, reduced funding for local hazard mitigation projects and added new approval layers for grants.
For North Carolina, that means fewer dollars for buyouts, drainage upgrades and flood control projects — and less federal data to guide long-term planning — just as the state is trying to build a more forward-looking flood strategy.
Brown said North Carolina is trying to “leverage the limited dollars that we have in the state with any federal sources that are available” and embed resilience into routine investments in transportation, water treatment and conservation.
“Funding is always going to be an issue,” Brown said.
The policy gap
Researchers have long argued that resilience investments save money. Studies show every $1 spent on mitigation can yield $4 to $13 in avoided losses.
“The problem is that the policies don’t align the people who pay the cost with the people who get the benefit,” Losos said.
A developer may not directly benefit from downstream flood reduction. A town may shoulder upfront infrastructure costs while insurers, neighboring communities or future taxpayers capture part of the savings.
Without policy changes that align costs and benefits, resilience can remain politically and financially difficult.
“In the most severe cases, there are some communities that will have to eventually abandon if they don’t begin to think about how they can adapt to these conditions,” Losos said.
North Carolina now has updated tools to better measure future flood risk. Whether the state can secure stable federal support — and align its own policies with the risks ahead — will determine how effectively communities prepare for the next storm rather than recover from the last one.
HUNT VALLEY, Md. (TNND) — The House ethics committee announced Monday it is investigating Representative Nancy Mace, the South Carolina Republican, for potentially improper reimbursement.
Mace may have sought and received reimbursements for Washington property expenses that were greater than the costs she actually incurred. The congresswoman has taken issue with the reliability of the committee’s evidence, however.
The committee began its investigation following a December referral from the House Office of Congressional Conduct (OCC), an independent body that reviews allegations of misconduct. The OCC recommended that the committee investigate Mace’s reimbursement activity since there is “substantial” reason to believe she acted unethically – potentially in violation of House rules, standards of conduct and federal law.
Bills and statements from early 2023 to mid-2024 show that Mace overbilled the House for over $9,000 during that period, the OCC said. She allegedly requested the maximum reimbursement each month, at times receiving over a thousand dollars more than what she was entitled to, although the details of her finances are murky. Mace owned the property with her fiancé, who may have helped pay for it, according to the OCC.
“Based on the information available to the OCC, it appears Rep. Mace was reimbursed amounts exceeding the actual costs incurred for the DC Property during several months in 2023 and 2024,” the office said in its report.
“Further, if Rep. Mace did not pay for 100% of expenses related to the DC property – a determination the OCC could neither reach nor reject due to the Congresswoman’s lack of cooperation – this would increase the disparity between the amounts Rep. Mace was reimbursed and her actual expenses incurred.”
Mace’s lawyer, William Sullivan, Jr., wrote in response to the report in December that the OCC’s conclusions were “fundamentally flawed.” The report appeared to include unverified assertions and materials from the congresswoman’s former fiancé, who has a history of abusive and retaliatory behavior toward her, Sullivan said. The couple’s relationship ended in late 2023 to protect Mace’s “safety and wellbeing,” he noted.
“The Referral Report’s reliance on material and information originating from [the former fiancé] is therefore deeply problematic,” Sullivan wrote. “[The fiancé’s] personal motives, documented misuse of legal process, and demonstrated willingness to advance distorted or incomplete narratives about the Congresswoman raise substantial concerns about the accuracy and fairness of any claims premised upon or aligned with his accounts.”
The ethics committee is in the initial stage of its investigation and is gathering more information before advancing.
Have questions, concerns or tips? Send them to Ray at rjlewis@sbgtv.com.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WCYB) — Tennessee Athletics’ “Big Orange Caravan” presented by Pilot will roll into the Tri-Cities on April 30, bringing some of the university’s most recognizable faces to Kingsport.
The statewide tour, a collaboration between Tennessee Athletics and the UT Knoxville Office of Alumni Affairs, features Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Danny White, men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes, women’s basketball coach Kim Caldwell, head football coach Josh Heupel and “Voice of the Vols” Mike Keith.
The Tri-Cities stop is scheduled for Thursday, April 30, at Meadowview Convention Center, 1901 Meadowview Parkway, Kingsport, Tennessee. Doors open at 5 p.m., followed by a meet-and-greet session with the headliners from 5:30-6:15 p.m. The program begins at 6:15 p.m.
Hosted by Keith, the evening will include stories, program insight and a question-and-answer session with Tennessee’s athletics leaders and coaches. The UT Spirit Squads also will be in attendance.
Tickets are $30, plus taxes and fees, and include light food options. A cash bar, along with additional light food and appetizers, will be available.
Of each ticket sold, $5 will benefit the local UT Alumni chapter’s scholarship endowment and $10 will go toward the My All Campaign.
The Tri-Cities event is the final stop of the three-city spring tour. The caravan opens in Chattanooga on April 28 before heading to Nashville on April 29. As announced last spring, Chattanooga and Memphis will alternate as tour stops each year.
The Big Orange Caravan is designed to connect Tennessee coaches and administrators with fans across the state, offering behind-the-scenes insight and celebrating the support of the Volunteer community.
Tickets for the Tri-Cities stop can be purchased at https://www.gofevo.com/event/BOCTriCities26
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