Meryl Streep jumped into action when an obstacle almost prevented her from evacuating her home as the deadly fires swept through Los Angeles this month.
The Oscar winner’s nephew, Abe Streep, wrote about her nerve-wracking escape in an article for New York Magazine about the fires published on Tuesday.
He revealed that when Streep, 75, tried to evacuate her home on January 8, one day after several wildfires began scorching the city, she was forced to cut a large enough hole in her fence to drive her car through after a tree blocked her only exit.
“Evacuation mandates were sent across the city. 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,” her nephew, an author, 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.”
Streep’s rumored boyfriend, her “Only Murders in the Building” co-star, Martin Short, 74, also spoke to her nephew, detailing his struggle to escape his Pacific Palisades neighborhood after one of his sons warned him to evacuate his home.
Short took family photo albums and drove toward the Pacific Coast Highway in an attempt to flee — only to discover the exits from his neighborhood were clogged.
“He remained in his car, where it took him more than an hour to cover a distance that would normally take five minutes. Others abandoned their vehicles and began to walk. The skies darkened, turning day into night,” Streep’s nephew wrote.
He interviewed “The Sixth Sense” star Haley Joel Osment, too, following the wildfires that displaced tens of thousands of residents and took the lives of at least 29 people.
While several stars lost their homes in the Palisades Fire, Osment, 36, was affected by the Eaton Fire that took place over 40 miles away.
The actor revealed he had returned from filming a new movie when the fire broke out near his home in Altadena.
Osment shared he lost the piano that his parents had given him for his eighteenth birthday and 500 records but plans to rebuild his property.
He also disclosed that his father lost his home.
“Not to cast blame or anything, but I just want to know, when this is all investigated — was there a decision to just let the whole neighborhood go?” Osment asked while speaking to New York Magazine.
Several people have sued the city of Los Angeles and the L.A. Department of Water and Power, including Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag.
The reality TV couple are suing over the damage to their $3 million house, which was destroyed in the Palisades wildfire.
