How Meryl Streep fled the Los Angeles wildfires sounds like something straight out of the movies.
The Academy Award winner literally took matters into her own hands to escape the blazes that engulfed the West Coast city and surrounding regions, displacing tens of thousands of residents.
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Streep received an evacuation order on January 8th as wildfires raged through Los Angeles. (Getty)
The actress’ nephew, New Mexico-based author Abe Streep, detailed the fires’ destruction in a story for New York Magazine, revealing that his aunt was forced to cut a hole in her fence large enough to drive a car through after she was issued evacuation orders earlier this month.
“My aunt Meryl Streep received an order to evacuate on January 8, but when she tried to leave, she discovered that a large tree had fallen over in her driveway, blocking her only exit,” he wrote. “Determined to make it out, she borrowed wire cutters from a neighbor, cut a car-size hole in the fence she shared with the neighbors on the other side, and drove through their yard to escape.”
Abe also detailed the evacuation of Streep’s rumored love interest and “Only Murders in the Building” co-star Martin Short.
The Emmy Award-winning actor told the author it took more than an hour to get out of his neighborhood in the Pacific Palisades. He watched some people abandon their vehicles and walk away from the fire as exits became clogged by everyone attempting to flee at the same time.
While Short’s home survived the flames, one of his sons lost his house nearby.
Since the wildfires began on Jan. 7, thousands of L.A. residents have lost their homes, while thousands of other structures have burned to the ground. As of Monday, the death toll from the fires had risen to at least 29.
