Soap star Eric Braeden lost his Pacific Palisades home of over 45 years amid the devastating L.A. fires.
The Young and the Restless star, 83, who on Wednesday, Jan. 8, shared on Instagram that he was evacuating his, visited its remains in an interview published by Entertainment Tonight on Friday, Jan. 10.
As the actor approached the home to see it completely burned down, he got visually emotional, shedding tears as he said, “45 years, man. I didn’t think it would hit me this much, man.”
“I’m devastated, man. I’m devastated. All the memories. I don’t want my family to see this,” he said as he looked at what remains of his home. “Boy, obviously you’ve seen a lot of coverage on television over the last few days, and I never imagined this. I didn’t imagine this.”
After recounting some memories from the home, like hosting parties for as many as 250 guests, he expressed his understanding of what others in similar circumstances are experiencing.
“It’s such a feeling of loss, man,” said Braeden. “It’s indescribable. It leaves you totally disoriented.”
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When asked what he and his wife took during their evacuation, Braeden confessed that they packed until the very last minute.
“We didn’t think it was going to come here, because she had called the emergency. Someone said, ‘Don’t worry about it. The wind is driving everything toward the ocean.’ So we did not reckon with it coming here at all. That’s why we lingered on and only then really packed the last hour,” he said, noting that they only took essential documents with them.
As for how he found out that their home was destroyed, Braeden told CNN that his costar, Joshua Morrow, “broke through some barriers” and sent him footage of the house.
The Palisades Fire broke out on Tuesday, Jan. 7, and remains the largest fire ravaging Los Angeles County. The fire has destroyed over 21,000 acres in Pacific Palisades and Malibu and is currently only 8% contained, per the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
The County of Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner (DME) reported that there were 11 fire-related deaths in the L.A. area as of Friday afternoon.
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