Milo Ventimiglia fights again tears whereas visiting rubble of charred house misplaced in California hearth
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Milo Ventimiglia fought back tears while visiting the remains of his house that was ravaged by the deadly California wildfires raging through the Los Angeles area.
The This is Us and Heroes actor was one of many Hollywood stars who lost their homes after evacuating Malibu on Tuesday (7 January) and, while surveying the damage for the first time, he emotionally reflected on the “heavy” loss.
He also described the incident as “life imitating art”, revealing it “wasn’t lost” on him that his This is Us character Jack Pearson saved his family from a house fire.
News footage showed Ventimiglia pulling up to the location where his home, worth $4.4m, stood just days before.
Find all live updates on the California fires here
The star, who watched the house burn down on security cameras he had installed, told CBS Evening News: “You start thinking about all the memories in the different parts of the house and whatnot.
“Then you see your neighbours’ houses and everything around, and your heart just breaks.”
Choking up while speaking, Ventimiglia added: “Man, it hits you so quick.”
He said he watched the house burning down with his heavily pregnant wife Jarah Mariano for a little while before turning the cameras off.
“I think there’s a kind of shock moment where you’re going, ‘Oh, this is real, and this is happening,’” he said. “And then at a certain point, we just turned it off. What good is it to continue watching? We kind of accepted the loss.”
Ventimiglia said that “everything was set up” for the imminent birth of their first child, telling the news channel they’ll lean on “good friends” to help them.
“We’ve got good friends, and we’ve got good people we’re working with,”he said, adding: “We’ll make do. Wife and baby and dog are most important.”
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At least seven people have been killed and countless others injured as fast-moving wildfires continued to tear across the outskirts of Los Angeles, leaving thousands of firefighters battling desperately to extinguish the blaze.
Other stars to lose homes in the fires include Anthony Hopkins, Billy Crystal and Paris Hilton, who watched her $8.4m Malibu mansion burn to the ground on live television.
When Harry Met Sally star Crystal, in a joint statement with his wife, said: “Words cannot describe the enormity of the devastation we are witnessing and experiencing. Janice and I lived in our home since 1979.
“We raised our children and grandchildren here. Every inch of our house was filled with love. Beautiful memories that can’t be taken away. We are heartbroken, of course, but with the love of our children and friends, we will get through this.”
