Moment emotional TV star reveals he’s getting ready to pack up and flee his Los Angeles residence below risk of California fires
Good Morning Britain star Ross King has emotionally revealed he is packing up and preparing to leave his Los Angeles home amid the California wildfires.
Mr King, 62, said his area in the Hollywood Hills has been told to evacuate as the Runyon Canyon wildfire – referred to as the Sunset fire – is ripping through houses.
The blazes in the Pacific Palisades have forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people, some of whom abandoned their cars and fled on foot to safety with roads blocked.
Firefighters are battling the inferno, which is burning through about five football fields a minute, but warned they were running out of water and supplies.
Speaking on GMB this morning, Mr King revealed his heartbreak as the homes of his close friends have also been destroyed.
‘It’s such a weird feeling when you’re packing up the car. We’re getting everything ready. You’re going around the house, you’re taking photographs, and you’re thinking this may be the last time that you actually see the house,’ he said.
‘That’s why your heart breaks when you see so many homes; we’re talking over 1,000 structures gone in the Palisades. I’ve got friends – one in Malibu has lost their house on the beach.
Ross King, 62, said his area in the Hollywood Hills has been told to evacuate as the Runyon Canyon wildfire – referred to as the sunset fire – is ripping through houses
Mr King has had to pack up his home and prepare to leave amid the terrifying blaze
Mr King has had to prepare to leave his Hollywood Hills home (pictured)
‘Three other people I know have completely lost their homes in the Palisades. You get that feeling – it is the weirdest and one of the scariest things that I’ve gone through. I’ve never known anything like it in my 25 years here in Los Angeles.’
Residents have been warned the worst is still yet to come as the raging wildfire burns through more than thousands of acres of LA land at an extraordinary rate.
‘When you’re actually right here in the middle of it, it’s the most destructive fire in LA history,’ said Mr King.
‘The one that’s very close to me is the Runyon Canyon which is referred to as the Sunset fire. It’s just a couple of miles away.
‘Of course as we know those embers from the fire can just carry miles, literally five or six miles, and that will set off the brush fire.’
He added: ‘It really is so scary.’
Explaining how he is taking the requests to evacuate seriously, Mr King said: ‘It is very much ”Ready, set, go!” is the instructions that they give you.
‘We’ve had cases packed for a day or so but a couple of hours ago it really was a case of get absolutely everything, get it in the car and make sure the car is facing the right way, be ready for roadblocks, be ready for carnage on the road. You have to take it seriously.’
Responding to Donald Trump’s comments where he said the governor of California has ‘not done a good job’ in ensuring the wildfire could be dealt with, Mr King said: ‘It really doesn’t seem the time to play the political cards but certainly there will be major, major questions asked when hopefully we get through this.’
Meanwhile, Paris Hilton is among the celebrities who have lost their homes amid the series of deadly wind-fueled wildfires.
An oceanfront Malibu home owned by the socialite, 43, was ‘burned to a crisp,’ insiders told TMZ yesterday.
The waterfront residence owned by the This Is Paris star was ‘reduced to a pile of burning rubble’ due to the blazes that have been concentrated in the Los Angeles communities of Pacific Palisades and Malibu.
Two new blazes broke out overnight in the Hollywood Hills and Studio City – forcing first responders to redeploy their already-scarce resources to the burnt landscape.
The National Guard has been deployed and could send in military personnel to assist, amid revelations that heroic firefighters are ‘triaging’ homes and neighborhoods.
A home burns in the Eaton Fire on January 8, 2025 in Altadena, California
A firefighting helicopter drops water as the Sunset Fire burns in the Hollywood Hills last night
The LA Fire Department issued an evacuation order for people in an area within Hollywood Boulevard to the south, Mulholland Drive to the north, the 101 Freeway to the east and Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the west – all iconic addresses in showbiz.
The latest fires mean huge swathes of iconic southern California real estate from Malibu to Santa Monica, and from Pacific Palisades to Runyon Canyon, are ablaze – impacting millions caught off guard by the unprecedented spread and carnage.
At least five people have lost their lives in the disaster so far – with 2,000 structures obliterated and thousands of people left with nothing but ash across the city.
More than 130,000 people are under evacuation orders while Mandy Moore, Cary Elwes and Hilton are among the stars who said they had lost homes. Billy Crystal and his wife Janice lost their home of 45 years in the Palisades Fire.
