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The actress detailed the “day we lost our home,” chronicling the events that led to her and her husband’s decision to ultimately evacuate, with Lake writing, “No doubt had we stayed, we would not have survived.”
Ricki Lake is recalling her heartbreaking attempt to save her Malibu “dream home” from the devastating Palisades wildfire in Los Angeles.
On Thursday, the actress shared two posts on her Instagram, in which she detailed the “day we lost our home,” chronicling her and her husband Ross Burningham’s valiant “efforts” to save the house, before they “finally surrendered” and it was ultimately destroyed.
Ricki Lake’s Instagram/Circle: Getty File Photo of Fire
Ricki Lake’s Malibu ‘Dream Home’ Is ‘Gone’ In L.A. County Wildfire
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The first post featured a compilation video, which included clips that coincided with the “timeline” of Lake, 56, and Buringham’s attempts to save their home.
The video began with footage of the blaze burning from a distance. “It’s happening right now,” the talk show host said. “Huge fire over in the Palisades.”
In the next clip, Lake showed the sprinklers in her backyard. “Thankfully, my sprinklers are working,” she said. “We have our system set up.”
The video then cut to Burningham hosing down a neighbor’s palm tree. Lake — who was filming her husband — exclaimed, “That’s so hot, honey!”
The next footage featured Burningham trying to “siphon gas for the fire system motor,” as Lake noted in her caption, before the video ended with footage of Lake seemingly walking on her property while the fire raged in the background.
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“1/7/25 The day we lost our home. 😭💔 timeline of our efforts to save our beloved home in Malibu,” Lake wrote in the post’s caption, before providing the timeline: “11:24 am early signs of smoke in Temescal Canyon. 11:54 am setting up our fire defense system. 4:10 pm Ross hosing down our neighbors palm tree (baller move). 6:17 pm Ross attempting to siphon gas for the fire defense system motor. (Even bigger baller move, though it didn’t work.). 6:55 do we stay or do we go?”
“Part 2 is next 💔💔💔😭😭😭,” she added to her followers.
In the second video, Lake shared she and her husband ultimately decided to evacuate, with the Emmy winner reflecting on the heartbreaking thought that they could lose their home.
Lake posted clips of the view of the devastating wildfire and raging winds, before it cut to her driving away from her property.
“I’m praying that we have a home to go home to,” she said, adding that her dog Dolly was on her lap and Burningham was in the car behind her.
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“I’m praying. We’re going down my street, praying for these homes and these people and my house,” she continued while driving, before admitting, “I don’t even know what I grabbed.”
“I think I may have just said goodbye to my house,” Lake said.
In the post’s caption, the Hairspray actress wrote, “We finally surrendered our efforts and left our home at 8:02 pm. Grateful to have made it out alive and uninjured. Forever grateful to @kirbykotler_ our absolute angel. He did everything to try to save our precious property. No doubt had we stayed, we would not have survived.”
“Sharing for all who have been asking. Thank you for the love and well wishes,” she added. “Again, please pray for those impacted by this catastrophic event and help if you are able.
Bless our brave firefighters and first responders. May they stay safe.🙏💔😭💞.”
Lake’s posts come one day after she shared the tragic news that she lost her home in the Palisades fire.
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“It’s all gone. 💔 I can’t believe I am typing these words,” she wrote on Instagram, sharing that despite a “valiant and brave effort” from one of their friends, she and Burningham “lost our dream home.”
“This description ‘dream home’ doesn’t suffice. It was our heaven on earth. The place where we planned to grow old together,” she continued, alongside a slideshow of photos of the house before the fire.
“We never took our heavenly spot on the bluff overlooking our beloved malibu for granted, not even for one second,” she wrote. “I shared our sunset 🌅 views almost daily with all of you. This loss is immeasurable. It’s the spot where we got married 3 years ago. I grief along with all of those suffering during this apocalyptic event.”
After sending her prayers to her neighbors, friends, community, animals and first responders, she promised to share more soon about how she and her husband escaped with her dog Dolly “and not much else.”
“For now I grieve. 💔💔💔,” her post concluded.
As of Friday morning, per CNN, multiple active wildfires — including the Palisades fire, the Eaton fire, the Hurst fire, and the Lidia fire — have led to the evacuation of over 100,000 residents, as hundreds of thousands are without power. It’s been reported that at least 10 people have been killed, and nearly 10,000 structures have been destroyed. According to CNN, citing CalFire, the Palisades and Eaton fires are among the five most destructive in California history.
In addition to Lake, Paris Hilton, Ricki Lake, Cameron Mathison, Billy Crystal, Adam Brody and Leighton Meester, Anna Farris, and more stars have lost their homes, while others have taken to social media to reveal they’ve evacuated their neighborhoods.
