Milo Ventimiglia’s house burns down and realizes ‘This is us’ parallel
Milo Ventimiglia’s parental home in Malibu burned down, the actor said on Thursday evening.
During an interview with CBS Newsthe ‘This Is Us’ star shared that he and his wife, Jarah Mariano, who is currently nine months pregnant, evacuated their home on Tuesday, January 7 and then watched on security cameras as the Palisades Fire took over. (At the time of publication, the Palisades Fire has burned nearly 20,000 acres of land.)
While the couple took as much stuff as possible, they had to leave the stuff in their newly completed nursery and leave everything there. On Thursday he visited the area to see where his house once stood.
“[It’s] heavy,” he said, holding back tears. “You start thinking about all the memories in different parts of the house and what not, and then you see your neighbors’ houses and everything around them, and it just breaks your heart.”
In the video interview he also said that he had seen it all happen from a distance. “I think there’s a moment of shock when you go, this is real and this is happening. Then at a certain point you just turn it off… what’s the point of looking any further?’ he said he saw the flames engulf his home through security footage. “We kind of accepted the loss.”
They accepted that because, he noted, the things they lost were just things. “We have good friends and we have good people that we work with and we will make it through,” he said. “Wife and baby and dog, the most important thing.”
This isn’t the first time Ventimiglia has had to talk about fire safety. For six seasons, he played Jack Pearson on NBC’s “This Is Us.” In season 2, Jack saved his family from a house fire and while they all escaped, he ran back in to save the dog and a few belongings; he later died of a heart attack after inhaling too much smoke.
“It is not lost on me that life imitates art,” he said during the CBS interview.
In 2018, following the house fire episode of ‘This Is Us,’ Ventimiglia opened up Variety about filming such a gruesome scenario.
“There was a fire right in front of me. Standing a few feet away from it, there were times when the hiss of the gas line of fire – it’s a kind of high-pitched whine – was completely overtaken by the sound of real fire, which is deep and booming and angry and something I I hope that many people never have to experience this,” he said.
The actor worked with Duracell at the time to promote fire safety. According to CBS, he is already thinking about how he can help others learn more about wildfire safety in the future.
If you have been affected by the Los Angeles fires, you can read more about the resources on offer here.
