Dick Van Dyke, a beloved actor, told how his astute neighbors helped him escape the fast-moving Franklin Fire that was burning through Malibu this week.
The movie icon, who turns 99 on Friday, remembered witnessing the fire spread across a hill close to his house this week. “I wasn’t ready,” he told NBC’s Dana Griffin, despite having already experienced four wildfires.
I made a mistake this time. My pool is connected to a fire hose, which emits water in a 70-foot stream. I wasn’t prepared, to be sure. I left. It was knotted, and as I lay on the ground attempting to untangle this fire hose, the fire is spreading across the hill. I simply exhausted me. He recounted, “I realized I was crawling to get out, and I forgot how old I am.”
“You could see it coming from over the hill,” he claimed.
Three of his neighbors came out to assist him while he was having difficulties.
I tried to crawl over to the automobile. I couldn’t get up since I was too tired. “I was carried out and returned by three neighbors,” he explained.
Dyke claimed that after being brought to the automobile by the neighbors, he quickly got inside the car with his wife and cats. Those neighbors saved his life, and he thanked them.
I wouldn’t have done it if they hadn’t gotten me out of here. He said, “I don’t think I would have made it.” They also came back, and my little guest house had started to flame up in the back. They released that. Thus, they preserved both my home and my life.
Video from his doorbell camera showed the moment he evacuated with his wife, Arlene, and their pets. After evacuating they went to a hotel in Santa Monica, where he had performed back in 1948, for a night.
Dyke called the firefighters’ efforts to put out the fire “amazing.”
They had me out of here and pouring water on my house instantly, and that fire just overwhelmed them. They must be exhausted, those guys, but they deserve every accolade they can get, he said.
Dyke said the only damage to his house was to the guest house.
The Franklin Fire, which sparked Monday night, has burned 4,037 acres and is 7% contained, as of Thursday morning, according to thecity of Malibu. Thus far the blaze has destroyed nine structures, closed down roads and some 20,000 citizens are under evacuation orders and evacuation warnings.
Actor Jane Seymour was also impacted by the fire. She posteddramatic photosof the flames near her home.
While the Franklin Fire continues to burn in Malibu and has gotten extremely close to our home, we remain evacuated and we are safe, she wrote on Instagram Wednesday. To everyone fighting the flames and keeping us safe, thank you. Your courage is extraordinary.
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