As wildfires rage across Southern California, leaving destruction and heartache in their wake, actress Samantha Rose Baldwin, known for her role in the Gossip Girl reboot, shared the dramatic and life-threatening ordeal she endured to rescue her 10-year-old tortoiseshell cat, Kitty.
Baldwin described the scene as “terrifying,” recounting how she sprinted through the Palisades Fire’s inferno-like conditions to reach her apartment and save her beloved pet.
It was an immediate spring into action and an amalgamation of questions racing through my head – can I get my cat out? Is my dad safe and getting ready to leave?
Baldwin told DailyMail.comAdvertisement
While her father, a security guard at a nearby elementary school, was busy evacuating students from the campus later destroyed by the fire Baldwin faced a daunting challenge of her own. Stuck in gridlocked traffic that would have taken two hours to reach her apartment, she made a bold decision: “I decided to park my car and run.”
Baldwin sprinted for 15 minutes along Sunset Boulevard before reaching her home. Once inside, the actress spent another 20 minutes locating Kitty, who had taken refuge inside the couch. I grabbed her and wrapped her up in a blanket and put her inside my cat carrier backpack, she said.
By the time Baldwin emerged from her building, the fire had advanced, cutting off her path back to her car.
The fire was all around us. The terrifying part was when a big gust of wind and smoke came in so fast that you couldn’t see anything.
she recalled
With flames closing in, Baldwin headed toward the ocean.
I was genuinely running for my life with my cat strapped to my back and a suitcase rolling behind me. I had to dart in and out of the cars and dodge flaming branches and palm leaves falling to the ground all around me like a minefield.
she said
As she fled, Baldwin made a heart-wrenching call to her mother.
While I was running towards the ocean, I called my Mom and told her I loved her. I honestly didn’t know if I was going to make it.
Baldwin and her father have since reunited and are staying with a friend in North Hollywood.
My body aches. I feel like I got hit by a bus and run over three times. I am so thankful to be alive, and that my Dad and cat are safe.
Baldwin said. Despite her physical discomfort, she expressed gratitude for her safety
The fires, fueled by a destructive windstorm, have devastated areas across Los Angeles County, including Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Eaton Canyon, and the Hollywood Hills. As of Saturday, the death toll has reached 11, with over 105,000 residents forced to evacuate and more than 5,300 structures destroyed.
President Joe Biden, currently in Los Angeles, has declared the situation a major disaster, pledging federal support for those affected. “To the residents of Southern California: We are with you,” Biden wrote on X.
Source: Deadline