Dennis Quaid stops to talk to reporter and gives advice to evacuees as they flee home

Dennis QuaidHe’s certainly cool under pressure… stopping to talk to a reporter as he evacuates his Los Angeles home amid the fires – and leaves some knowledge behind for fellow evacuees.

The actor left his Brentwood home overnight after the Pacific Palisades wildfire changed winds and began creeping toward the affluent LA neighborhood.

The reporter, who works for the local NBC station, jokes and says that Dennis is trying to perform a miracle by putting two laundry baskets of 17-year-old girls into his Mercedes.

Check out the clip… Dennis clearly laughs at the joke, even stepping in to correct a reporter after he says the power has gone out. Dennis responds that they turned it off on purpose to prevent broken power lines from contributing to the fire.

Dennis then encourages people to turn off their gas lines as they leave their homes… in hopes of slowing the disaster.

Quaid keeps it light through it all…despite the scary situation on the ground in West LA, though he gets more emotional later in the conversation.

The Palisades Fire has burned more than 22,000 acres this week… the largest of the several fires that have started in LA, it is currently only 11% contained — and thousands of people have been forced to evacuate.