Actor James Woods recalled the chaotic moments Tuesday afternoon Pacific Palisades when a deadly wildfire spread through his neighborhood, destroying house after house.
Woods and his family fled their home as the flames grew closer. He’s not sure if his house is still standing, but told The Ingraham Angle on Wednesday that it’s possible.
“Are amazing what happened During this experience we discovered that none of us are celebrities. None of us are rich or poor, Democrat or Republican. We were just neighbors and really helped each other,” Woods said.
FURIOUS PALISADES FIRE DESTROYS HIGH SCHOOL SEVERAL HOLLYWOOD FILMS
A building burns during the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA, on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. Uncontrolled wildfires tore through parts of the Los Angeles region, fueled by extreme winds, forcing thousands of residents to flee and the grounding of fire-fighting aircraft. Photographer: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The multiple Emmy Award winner added that his neighbor ran to his house after he and his family evacuated to try to keep the flames from reaching his deck, even staying overnight to fight the fire.
“It was an extraordinary experience to realize how essential good neighbors, good friends and good family members are,” Woods said.
His neighbor told him Wednesday morning that the houses to his left and right had burned down, as well as “every house” across the street, but Woods’ roof was still visible.
PHOTO GALLERY: PALISADES FIRE BEFORE AND AFTER
A fire-damaged Bank of America branch is seen after the Palisades Fire destroyed Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades neighborhood on Wednesday, January 8, 2025. (Eugene Garcia/AP)
Officials estimated Wednesday morning more than 1,000 structures had burned as the wildfire continued to besiege Los Angeles County.
Woods told Fox News host Laura Ingraham that he saw a fire truck parked in front of his house as the fire started to grow, but firefighters could not pump water because “there was no water.”
Eric Scott, the public information officer for the Los Angeles Fire Department, acknowledged in a post on X that there were indeed challenges related to water pressure.
“LADWP (Los Angeles Department of Water and Power) has proactively filled all available water storage tanks, including three 1 million gallon tanks in the Palisades area,” Scott wrote. “However, water availability was impacted at higher elevations, affecting some fire hydrants due to limited replenishment of water tanks in those areas. The extreme demand caused a slower replenishment rate for these tanks, which posed a challenge to our firefighting efforts.”
An air tanker made a jump on the Palisades Fire. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Woods called out California Governor Gavin Newsom for his alleged mismanagement of the fire and said the ongoing aftermath of the wildfire is more than a “wake-up call.”
“If it’s true that things were handled this way. If it’s true that Gavin Newsom is the absolute happy-go-lucky idiot that I think he is in the way he’s handled firefighting in this state time and time again, then this is not the kind of thing they have tribunals for – where they have people to trial and say you had an oath of office to perform certain duties,” Woods said.
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“If you’re the fire chief, this is not a social justice exercise that you’re in charge of. You’re bringing water to areas that need water because there are fires with winds of a hundred miles an hour and burning houses. to the ground.”
