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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.”
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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.
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“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.
Alabama
Husband, 19, fatally shot wife, 24, himself at Alabama hospital moments after welcoming their first child
A husband fatally shot his wife before turning the gun on himself at an Alabama hospital just moments after they welcomed their first child on Sunday.
Kynath Terry Jr., 19, gunned down 24-year-old Precious Johnson before fatally shooting himself inside the Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital around 9:30 p.m. Sunday night, WTVM 13 reported.
Johnson delivered a healthy baby just before she was murdered. It’s not immediately clear if the baby was present during the shooting, but police said that Terry and Johnson were the only ones injured.
Terry’s mother told the outlet that the couple were having some marital issues leading up to Johnson’s due date, but nothing that made her fear her son would become violent.
She told the outlet that Terry completed Army National Guard training before tying the knot with Johnson.
She noted that Johnson didn’t want Terry’s side of the family at the hospital for her child’s birth, but it’s unclear if anyone from the mother-to-be’s own family was there.
The hospital was plunged into a lockdown “out of an abundance of caution” while police investigated reports of a shooting. It wasn’t lifted until hours later when they determined there was “no active threat to patients, team members or the public,” the outlet reported.
The Homewood Police Department described the tragedy as “an apparent murder-suicide and is domestic in nature.”
Danne Howard, the president of the Alabama Hospital Association, told the outlet that the chilling attack “was an isolated incident” unlike anything she’d encountered during her three decades working in the state.
Howard said, in the wake of the tragedy, the Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital would undergo a security overhaul implementing “lessons learned” from a mandated after-action report.
Just three months ago, in a town six miles outside of Homewood, a beloved sports reporter was fatally shot by her husband before taking his own life. Their 3-year-old son, who was unharmed, led his grandfather to his parents’ bodies.
Arkansas
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Ella McCarthy
Ella McCarthy covers state politics and the state Supreme Court. Before joining the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, she covered Austin City Hall for the Austin American-Statesman, and before that, held a fellowship with ABC News in Washington, D.C., where she covered national politics. A graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism, her work has been recognized by the Hearst Foundation, the Missouri Press Association and LION Publishers in the LION local journalism awards. She contributed to the Statesman’s coverage of a two-city shooting rampage that won a national Edward R. Murrow Award for breaking news coverage.
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Delaware child care has been a fixture of this budget season.
Gov. Matt Meyer pitched some $50 million toward early education in his proposed budget for next fiscal year. It included an $11.3 million federal grant to bolster systems, $8 million to pilot statewide hubs – and the largest piece in $25.3 million to boost Purchase of Care, or state-subsidized child care.
That line item proved a major talking point during a public health budget hearing in Legislative Hall on Monday, March 2, while connecting to broader visions for early childhood reform.
As it turns out, Delaware’s subsidized child care program in particular was already due to shoulder federal requirement changes dating back to the Biden administration. And those changes, effective April 1, could cost the state about $25 million to keep up.
That morning, lawmakers were briefed by the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services for more than three hours, before well over 50 public comments stretched late into the afternoon. Topics ranged from at-home care and centers supporting Delawareans with disabilities, to the ongoing strain of child care.
New Health Secretary Christen Linke Young said the Trump administration might drop these coming changes to pay providers based on child enrollment, before they’re effective.
And for Delaware, she would agree with that call.
Boosting Delaware child care, one way or the other
Purchase of Care is one program helping lower-income Delaware families – or those making below 200% of the federal poverty level, as of yet – afford care at various child care outfits across the state. Delaware pays those providers directly, around the end of the month, based on how many days these children attended.
Federal requirements could force states to change that.
Delaware would have to pay providers at the top of the month, based on their overall student enrollment, regardless of attendance. Young told lawmakers that would cost around $25 million each year, if requirements are not rescinded by the Trump administration.
It would mean more money for providers, she said, though also harsher policy needed around attendance expectations.
“If the federal government does change the rules, we need that full amount to shift to enrollment,” she said, addressing the Joint Finance Committee dais. “If not, our intention is to use it for increased eligibility.”
In other words, the administration hopes to invest about $25 million into this bucket either way. However, the health secretary said paying based on enrollment isn’t her recommendation.
Young told lawmakers the administration would rather see that amount infused into the program to expand eligibility to 250% of the federal poverty level. So, picture a family of three making roughly $80,000 would make the cut. No changes were proposed to co-payments or special education tiers.
This was met with mixed reviews.
“I’m sure some folks are going to have something to say about that,” cautioned Sen. Trey Paradee, committee chair.
For her part, Jamie Schneider was already editing her remarks in real time.
“Comments today suggested providers want to keep attendance-based payments instead of moving to enrollment-based payments,” said the interim executive director for Delaware Association for the Education of Young Children, representing some 900 early care providers. “That is inaccurate and I hope it’s a misunderstanding.”
Schneider welcomed the enrollment model, with “clear rules” to hold both providers and parents responsible. She and a handful of other speakers still also reinforced the necessity in bolstering the Purchase of Care program, from accessibility to reimbursement rates.
Some lawmakers hesitated on shifting away from enrollment boon for providers, while others pushed for attention on the benefits cliff. Meanwhile, child care became an economic discussion.
Is Delaware child care everyone’s business?
Some lawmakers did not care for this price tag, either way.
“So, there’s $25 million that will be saved because of this non-change, and you’re going to expand the program?” Sen. Dave Lawson posed to Young, while expressing concern for taxpayer dollars.
The secretary quickly turned to economic impact.
“Child care is expensive,” she said, in a portion of her remarks. “It is keeping people out of the workforce. It is posing an enormous burden on families and keeping them from making choices that they want to make, to participate in the economy, or to drive change.”
The Rodel Foundation released survey data in fall 2025 that would buttress these claims. The nonprofit is focused on public education and policy, with early childhood education as one pillar. At a glance:
- About 92% of Delaware employers surveyed said child care challenges are hurting their employees, while some 76% reported such problems directly impact their business operations.
- About 1 in 4 caregivers said they considered leaving Delaware because of child care challenges.
- 1 in 3 employers cited productivity declines, lost hours or services and staff turnover.
- 2 in 3 have seen their employees miss work, reduce hours or report absences at least monthly.
- For parents, 1 in 3 reported turning down a job or promotion, cut hours or left work to meet child care demands.
“The cliff is real for me,” Sen. Eric Buckson said. “It disincentivizes individuals to climb out, and I’ve seen it work against folks.”
Purchase of Care’s “graduated phase out” level – often referred to as the “benefits cliff,” when eligibility runs up – would remain at 300%, according to DHSS budget documents and hearing remarks. It was unclear Monday if it would be solidified in more years to come.
There is a long runway ahead.
Untangling a bigger picture for Delaware child care
Sometimes Lt. Gov. Kyle Evans Gay describes the state of Delaware’s early childhood education system as the backside of an average desk. Tangled wires trace down the wall, with various colors and knots headed toward different outlets.
She’s been tapped to help straighten it up.
Named chair to the Interagency Resource Management Committee last year, Gay has overseen several Delaware departments as they centralize on early education. Those are state departments like Health and Social Services, Education, Services for Children, Youth and their Families and more.
The cross-agency group – with cabinet secretaries, agency leadership, lawmakers and the Delaware Early Childhood Council – landed a $11.3 million preschool development grant. Gay sees this next year ahead as setting the stage.
“That will go to projects in each of the agencies, as well as projects in my office,” the lieutenant governor said.
“And truly, with that money, we are building that investable system so that we can have information, including data about how to better serve Delawareans. We’re going to be building local infrastructure so that we can make sure that providers, educators, parents, have resources at their local levels.”
The former state senator and longtime advocate on child care issues sees a north star of early education as a universal, public good.
“But that’s an incredibly large project,” she said. “And it’s a big change from how we traditionally think about birth through 5.”
From exploring finance models to connecting public and private partners, this could be one step in that direction.
DDOE’s Office of Child Care Licensing has also been working to digitize electronic record systems to elevate the office’s public database, while tracking compliance and investigating complaints across Delaware’s licensed providers. A combined $2.4 million was pledged to make it happen, in the last two years, and it’s highly anticipated, Gay said.
The “Delaware Early Childhood Care & Education Alliance,” or likely hubs to the north and south, may also land an $8 million infusion to work across area providers and assist the state in expanding child care access, as outlined in the governor’s proposed budget.
A budget hearing on public education should bring more on that, Tuesday, March 3.
Got another education tip? Contact Kelly Powers at kepowers@usatodayco.com.
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