Numerous celebrities forced to flee fast-moving blaze
LOS ANGELES: A fast-moving wildfire in Southern California has scorched a historic movie site recently used by the HBO series
Westworld and forced numerous celebrities to join the thousands fleeing flames that have claimed homes and prompted the total evacuation of the celebrity enclave of Malibu.
Kim Kardashian, Scott Baio, Rainn Wilson and Guillermo del Toro are among numerous celebrities forced to evacuate their homes, in some cases hurriedly trying to arrange transport for their horses.
Some, like del Toro and Caitlyn Jenner, did not know the fate of their homes, but the wind-driven wildfire has destroyed the home of
Dr Strange director Scott Derrickson and the historic Paramount Ranch where shows like HBO’s Westworld
and Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman
were filmed.
Alyssa Milano said her home was “in jeopardy” amid her attempts to safely evacuate her five horses. The actress ultimately got the help she needed and tweeted that her horses were safe.
“My children are safe. Everything with a heartbeat is safe,” she wrote.
The celebrity website TMZ reported that Jenner’s home was burned, but the Olympic gold medalist said in an Instagram video that she did not know “whether the house made it or not”. She confirmed she was safe.
Kardashian posted video on Instagram of an area on fire with a message “Pray for Calabasas”. She said she landed back home, spent one hour packing and evacuated shortly afterwards. Derrickson said he is safe despite losing his home.
In addition to dozens of homes destroyed, Paramount Ranch’s “Western Town”, a landmark film location that included a jail, hotel and saloon, had burned to the ground.
The ranch served as a location for productions ranging from 1938’s The Adventures of Marco Polo to TV shows The Mentalist and
Weeds.
The set in the mountains west of Los Angeles dates to 1927 when Paramount Pictures leased the ranch and began making films there.
Western Town specifically was built for TV productions in the 1950s and was used for such westerns as The Cisco Kid and Dick Powell’s Zane Grey Theatre.
Filming continued for decades even as the ranch changed hands. It was acquired by the National Park Service in 1980 but has continued to function as a filming location, serving as a location for the first two seasons of the sci- fi series
Westworld. When not in use for filming, visitors could stroll through Western Town while hiking or riding through on horseback.