'I'm Doomed': Actor Recalls Hiding Behind Boulders Amid Run-In With California Wildfires
An actor who filmed his nightmarish escape from the wildfires that have wreaked havoc on Southern California said he thought he was “doomed” as a “hurricane of embers” approached him near his Malibu home.
“I’m still hiding behind the boulders. ... Sparks, coming, so I have to duck behind these rocks. I’m ready to jump into the ocean,” said Sebastian Harrison, the son of B-movie actor Richard Harrison, as fires raged nearby in footage that aired Thursday on CNN.
By early Saturday, at least 11 people had been killed and thousands of structures destroyed amid the historic fires.
Sebastian Harrison, who is known for his work in foreign productions and was joined by wife Livia Pillmann in an appearance on CNN, told the network that he’d decided to go to his home — which is close to his father’s residence — to save it.
“The problem is, at a certain point, I saw the fire trucks just quickly leave and I thought, ‘Oh, that’s not a good sign.’ So I tried to get in my car. It wouldn’t start,” Harrison said.
“I got back out, and I saw just this whole hurricane of embers going toward me. And I thought, you know, I’m doomed.”
The actor, in an interview with The Telegraph, said he thought he “really” needed to get away but noted that there was “no one” there to help him.
“I have, you know, nerves of steel, but there was a point when I, you know, I thought I could catch on fire,” said Harrison, whose footage showed smoke, sparks and a glowing orange sky.
Harrison described the experience as “hell.”
Pillmann had lost contact with her husband, who was rescued by firefighters before what he described as a “treacherous” return to safety.
“Houses on each side were on fire, they were swerving in and out of debris, there were trash cans flying, there were big pieces of tree flying in the middle of the road,” he told The Telegraph.
Pillmann, who was waiting at a gas station for word from her husband, said she “really thought something happened to him.”
The couple’s home was destroyed by the fires, and the two said they were devastated by the loss.
“We put so much time and effort and love into building a sanctuary in our home, you know, and it’s really devastating to see that burn in front of my husband’s eyes,” said Pillmann, who shared photos of the property in ruins.
“It is heartbreaking to see all this work and love of labour, you know that we put into our place, and our safe haven is gone.”
