Eugene Levy’s has joined those affected by the massive wildfires in the Greater Los Angeles area.
The 78-year-old Schitt’s Creek star lost his home in LA’s Pacific Palisades neighborhood after the fast-spreading Westside Fire burned it to the ground.
He told the newspaper this on Tuesday Los Angeles Times that he had gotten into a traffic jam while trying to evacuate the neighborhood ahead of the flames.
Levy reportedly purchased his property in 2006 for a relatively modest $3.9 million Urban splatter.
The two-storey house had three bedrooms and three bathrooms and was spread over 2,081 square meters.
It reportedly dated from 1950 and had an attached garage, as well as an elegant set of curved steps leading from the driveway to the front door.
Eugene Levy, 78, has lost his $3.9 million Pacific Palisades home in the brutal wildfires sweeping through Los Angeles
Levy, who is Canadian and has a much larger mansion in Toronto, has been honorary mayor of Pacific Palisades since 2021; seen in 2020 in NYC
Despite the house being small by celebrity standards, it still had lovely touches, such as tasteful trees and shrubs that provided some privacy to the front of the house.
But all of that has now been reduced to a pile of smoldering rubble.
The American Pie star is Canadian and spent much of his life in Toronto, where he raised his children Dan and Sarah Levy, both of whom appeared with him in their hit comedy series Schitt’s Creek.
He has a much larger mansion there, and his Pacific Palisades home was apparently used primarily when he filmed projects in Los Angeles.
Speaking to the LA Times on Tuesday, Levy described the fire’s smoke as “pretty black and intense” as it hovered over Temescal Canyon. “I couldn’t see any flames, but the smoke was very dark.”
Levy has a special bond with Pacific Palisades, as he was named the borough’s honorary mayor in 2021.
The position only makes non-binding statements for the neighborhood as it is governed by the LA government as part of the city, but Levy is said to have appeared at community events as part of his position.
Neither Eugene nor his children Dan or Sarah made any mention on social media of the horrific bushfire that had engulfed his home.
His destroyed home had three bedrooms and three bathrooms in just over 2,000 square feet. The house is said to have been built in 1950
Levy described the fire’s smoke as “pretty black and intense” to the LA Times as it hovered over Temescal Canyon. ‘I couldn’t see any flames, but the smoke was very dark’; pictured in February 2023
He was stuck among a crowd of motorists trying to flee the fire. Many drivers panicked and fled their vehicles, forcing firefighters to use bulldozers to clear the way for emergency vehicles
The Pacific Palisades fire broke out Tuesday morning and was fanned by high winds.
It provided the perfect environment for a wildfire, as the area had been dry recently but also had significant vegetation growth due to recent wet winters, leaving plenty of fuel for the fire.
Pacific Palisades is also much less dense than other parts of the Greater Los Angeles area, so there are more trees and shrubs to fuel the fire, as opposed to denser spaces of concrete and asphalt that would provide little fuel for the flames.
More than 30,000 people have been evacuated so far, with many having to leave with little more than the clothes on their backs and their pets, if they were lucky enough to catch them in time.
The iconic Sunset Boulevard runs through Pacific Palisades, but had become a disaster scene when panicked drivers fled their cars during a traffic jam, leaving behind a fleet of luxury vehicles that had to be pushed out of the way by bulldozers to allow firefighters to access the area. .
Homes along the Pacific Coast Highway and Malibu also burned to the ground.
The Getty Villa, a museum designed in the image of an ancient Roman villa, was threatened by the fire, which destroyed some of the foliage on the grounds, although the buildings and their sculptures and artwork appear to have survived thanks to safety measures of the museum. .
The Palisades fire isn’t the only fire LA residents have to worry about. The Eaton Fire flared further east around Altadena and spread into heavily populated Pasadena, forcing many more evacuations.
Other stars, including Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, were forced to evacuate. Some were not so lucky, like James Woods, who lost his home; pictured in LA in 2017
The Oscar-nominated actor posted several messages on X/Twitter detailing the damage as a fast-moving wildfire approached his home. He fled, but the house was destroyed
Steve Guttenberg, who lives in the area, was seen doing his best to help others escape. told KTLA: ‘I have friends there and they can’t evacuate… I walk there as far as I can to move cars’
High winds, which can reach up to 100 miles per hour in some areas, have made efforts to stop the fire extremely difficult, and firefighters have also had to contend with a lack of water due to burst water pipes caused by the fires .
Other stars were spotted evacuating after the fires, including Ben Affleck, who rushed to his ex Jennifer Lopez’s home to help her escape as well.
Some stars were not so lucky, including Adam Brody and Leighton Meester, whose home was destroyed, while Anna Faris also lost her mansion.
Actor James Woods shared a video of the approaching flames shortly before he evacuated, prior to the destruction of his home.
Brody and Meester are among a host of celebrities affected by the fire.
Hollywood film star Anna Faris has lost her mansion in the devastating fire.
Reality stars Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag saw their home destroyed by the bushfire, and Spencer looked somber at the encroaching flames before his family was forced to flee.