‘Devastated’ Aussie Hollywood star Mel Gibson reveals the private objects he misplaced when his $23million Malibu mansion burned down in LA fires

Oscar-winning Aussie director and actor Mel Gibson has reflected on how it felt to learn that he had lost almost everything when his $23.5million mansion burnt to the ground during the LA fires. 

Gibson, 69, discovered his house had been consumed by fire while recording an episode on Joe Rogan’s podcast on Friday and has since opened up to Fox host Laura Ingraham about the tragedy.

‘These are things and they may or may not be replaceable but we’re still here and I just kind of look at it in a weird kind of a way like a purification,’ he told Fox News.

After learning that his house was about to be destroyed the actor said he rushed back to the Malibu mansion with his son to grab whatever they could before it all turned to ash. 

He said the pair only escaped with their passports and a few other important documents while his artworks and books, some of which were from the 16th century and priceless, were destroyed in the flames.

‘It reminds me of the old cattle barrons clearing people off the land. I don’t know… it just seemed a little convenient that there was no water,’ he said.

‘The wind conditions and the fact that there were people ready, willing and able to start fires. And are they commissioned to do so or are they just acting on their own volition?’

At least 10 people have been killed as catastrophic fires rage through Los Angeles for a fourth straight day as police carry out a series of looting and arson arrests.

As of Friday, over 10,000 structures have been burned down, with a total of 29,053 acres of land scorched in one of Los Angeles’ most horrific disasters to date.

There are growing questions, including from Gibson himself, about why LA and California officials failed to prepare for the disaster when they had ample warning of encroaching wind.

Gibson said he knew his house was a goner after he was warned it was in the direct path of the fire but that it was still shocking to see the wreckage left behind.

‘By and large everything is gone. When I went up there there yesterday it looked like Dresden after Bomber Harris got through with it. There’s nothing left,’ he said.

Gibson was referring to February, 1945, when British war planes destroyed the German city of Dresden over five hours in a bombing campaign towards the end of WWII. 

‘My son grabbed like three things and took off and those are okay, stuff like passports and a couple of papers… [but] its tragic, it makes you really sad,’ he said.

‘There’s actually neighbours that I have and I was looking at them and I felt worse for them than I did for myself.

‘I look at it as a strange mixture of sadness and almost kind of an elation in a sense. I just count my blessings… it is what it is I guess.’

His home and many of its surrounding structures were razed by the fire which claimed more than 10,000 other structures this week.   

He had appeared for a three-hour sit-down with Rogan as the fires encroached upon his house but Gibson said he did not mind as the podcaster ‘can put you at ease fairly well, so I was doing okay and I knew that my family was safe’.

Gibson also shared disturbing visions when he appeared on the The Joe Rogan Experience.

The actor-turned-filmmaker warned the controversial podcaster that society was heading toward a ‘collapse’ while discussing the fires that have devastated several neighborhoods around Greater Los Angeles and left other celebrities without homes. 

‘All those earmarks, the precursors of a collapse, they’re present in our time. It doesn’t take long,’ he said. 

He also included plenty of criticism for California Governor Gavin Newsom for failing to ‘take care of the forest and maintain the forest,’ though the current fires all started in urban environments.

The actor said: ‘I think Newsom said ”I’m gonna take care of the forest and maintain the forest and do all that kinda stuff” – he didn’t do anything.’

Rogan chimed in that he believes that the California Governor had put tax dollars toward supporting the homeless population instead of fire prevention.

The Passion Of The Christ director agreed with the host before joking: ‘I think all our tax dollars probably went to Gavin’s hair gel.’

Apocalyptic fires tore through the ritzy enclave of Pacific Palisades on Tuesday, rapidly spreading to surrounding suburbs as a windstorm carried embers and debris in all directions.

Residents fled and then waited with bated breath to learn more about their homes, as news began trickling out that entire streets had been wiped off the map, firefighters were running out of water, and resources were being diverted to fight the fire on multiple fronts.

This came as Newsom was left fumbling for a response after he was chased down by a distraught Los Angeles mom demanding answers over the wildfires ravaging the city.

The California Governor apologized and claimed to be trying to reach the president on the phone when he was accosted by the emotional woman on Thursday.

It came as large swathes of the city remained engulfed by the flames which have destroyed thousands of homes and businesses.

Newsom was unable to provide a concrete response about the recovery effort during the grilling, which lasted almost two, excruciating minutes.

On Thursday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass tried to deflect criticism that fire hydrants rans dry by insisting they were filled, but simply were not designed to cope with a disaster of this scale.

Her comments came as the fires continued to burn for the third consecutive day, with the Pacific Palisades blaze becoming the most devastating in the county’s history.

Almost 180,000 people are under evacuation orders, with hundreds of thousands still without power.