EastEnders actress Patsy Palmer has said her home is “miraculously ok” amid the wildfires ravaging Los Angeles.
The soap star, 52, who is currently in London, said her Malibu home had been surrounded by flames twice recently.
Her husband, Richard Merkell, and children Fenton and Emilia, had been evacuated from the property during the wind-driven fires in California which have killed at least 11 people, ravaged communities and caused thousands to flee their properties.
Palmer posted videos to social media of her possessions, taken over the Christmas holidays, after she cleaned out her garage following a blaze that destroyed her neighbours’ home and the land next door.
She said: “I experienced a small part of what it feels like to have lost everything we own and it was painful enough so to experience this again is beyond words.
“Our house is miraculously ok again.
“It’s traumatic for everyone to lose everything they own and the precious memories that we often don’t know that we have in our garages.
“We laugh and say get rid of it but when it is taken it hits different.”
She added: “I come from Bethnal Green and it’s a world away from these types of disasters.
“My family and pets are safe and I know (they) will be doing what they can to help.”
Last month residents in Malibu were evacuated from a wind-driven blaze dubbed the Franklin Fire, in which more than 4,000 acres were burned and stars including Dick Van Dyke, Cher and Jane Seymour were forced to leave their homes.
US reality star Paris Hilton launched an emergency fund to support families displaced by the wildfires, kickstarting it with a personal donation of 100,000 dollars (£82,000) after she watched her Malibu home “burn to the ground on live TV”.
“While I’ve lost my Malibu home, my thoughts are with the countless families who have lost so much more – their homes, cherished keepsakes, the communities they loved, and their sense of stability,” she wrote on Instagram.
Hilton lost her home in the Pacific Palisades fire which broke out on Tuesday and remains the largest fire devastating Los Angeles, having destroyed more than 21,000 acres.
She said the donations will provide short-term housing and cash assistance to families, deliver essentials to evacuation centres and support local animal shelters.
US actress Jennifer Garner was among the stars volunteering, providing food relief for evacuees and the emergency services, working alongside World Central Kitchen founder chef Jose Andres at one of the charity’s many pop-up locations around California.
Standing amid the rubble of her hometown of 25 years, an emotional Garner told US outlet MSNBC: “I did lose a friend, and for our church it’s really tender, so I don’t feel like I should talk about her yet.
“I did lose a friend who did not get out in time.”
She continued: “I feel almost guilty walking through my house, what can I do, how can I help, what can I offer?”
Meanwhile many Hollywood stars used their platforms to share links to evacuation resources and donation pages and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited a meal distribution site and were seen hugging people and speaking to emergency crews.
Oscar-nominated actress Sharon Stone encouraged stars to make donations to a distribution centre, which prompted Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry to pack up “my entire closet” in order to “help all of the displaced families that are in need of the basics”.
Fellow Oscar-nominated actress Michelle Pfeiffer and Selling Sunset’s Chrishell Stause commented on Berry’s post, with their plans to drop off items, while Jason Oppenheim of Selling Sunset offered free representation to help people find homes.
After members of the Kardashian family were reportedly evacuated from their homes, matriarch Kris Jenner said her family approached their favourite Armenian restaurant to “feed a few fire houses”.
Kim Kardashian said she donated to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation “providing critical resources to the heroic first responders protecting our city”, and made a “sizeable donation of underwear, clothing, and socks to Baby2Baby to help those displaced by the fires”.
Entertainment company LiveNation said a charity concert, FireAid, will take place at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, which will be “dedicated to rebuilding communities devastated by wildfires and supporting efforts to prevent future fire disasters throughout Southern California”.
The event is billed as an “evening of music and solidarity” and will take place on January 30, with performers yet to be announced.
When Harry Met Sally actor Billy Crystal, The Princess Bride star Cary Elwes and Oscar-winning actor Jeff Bridges were among the celebrities who lost their homes.
Oscar-winning actor and director Mel Gibson later said the home he had lived in for more than a decade had burned while he was appearing on an episode of the Joe Rogan podcast.
Elsewhere, TV host Melissa Rivers told CNN she managed to save the Emmy awarded to her late mother, the comedian and actress Joan Rivers, while fleeing her home.
The fires have thrown Hollywood’s awards season into disarray, and the Critics Choice Awards and the Oscar nominations are among the events being rescheduled.
