Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine saved Van Halen’s ‘Woman and Children First’ t-shirt in the fire in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles.
“Thanks to everyone reaching out. We are good, but had to evacuate last night,” the drummer wrote in his Instagram post. “Hosed down the house and grabbed the humans and animals and split…. Oh, I did grab one thing from the house… this VH woman and children first o.g. tee… very apropos. Everybody please be careful and stay safe.”
The fire started at 10:30 AM PT on January 7 and has spread to over 11,000 acres, with no containment because of the Santa Ana winds, according to CalFire. There are also three other fires in Altadena, Sylmar, and near Sepulveda Basin in the San Fernando Valley, CBS News reports.
California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency. At least 30,000 people in Pacific Palisades had to evacuate. The Los Angeles County Fire Department confirmed two deaths and over 1,000 buildings destroyed.
“California has deployed 1400+ firefighting personnel & hundreds of prepositioned assets to combat these unprecedented fires in L.A. Emergency officials, firefighters, and first responders are all hands on deck through the night to do everything possible to protect lives,” Governor Newsom said in a post on X.
Some rock musicians, like Scott Ian of Anthrax, Richard Patrick of Filter, Bret Michaels, Joe Bonamassa, and others, have shared photos and safety updates during the fire.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected across the nation right now,” Poison’s frontman Bret Michaels wrote in his post on X.
“This thing came outa nowhere… now it’s exploding. Very sorry for all those affected…,” Whitesnake’s Doug Aldrich also posted on social media.
CalFire has made an Evacuation Guide with tips on getting ready to leave, power outages, animal evacuations, and what to do if you’re trapped. People can donate to the California Wildlife Relief Fund to help provide food, fuel, water, and shelter for those affected.
Photo Credit: Brad Wilk – Instagram
