Palisades wildfire: Candace Cameron Bure fears families, small businesses will not recover from devastation
Candace Cameron Bure shared her fears that Los Angeles' Pacific Palisades neighborhood will struggle to recover after a wildfire devastated the upscale area.
The Palisades Fire, which was fueled by strong Santa Ana winds and ignited in the Santa Monica Mountains late Tuesday morning, has already consumed more than 15,000 acres and destroyed over 1,000 buildings, Fox Weather reported Wednesday.
Bure, who lived in the Pacific Palisades for over three decades, told Fox News Digital she was "beyond words" to describe the effect the fire would have on local families and small businesses.
"It changes everything," the actress said Wednesday afternoon.
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"And because the destruction is so massive, I can't imagine how long a rebuild is going to take," Bure continued. "And who knows that small businesses will ever be able to recover or rebuild, depending on what their insurance claims are and all that kind of stuff.
"So many fire insurance [companies] completely dropped out of these areas that are in the canyons," she added. "I know when we lived there, we couldn't get fire insurance. And, so, when you think about these things, it's really overwhelming what people are going to be going through."
The "Full House" alum noted that Pacific Palisades is a tight-knit community of homes and mostly small businesses. Though the long-term impact of the fire is uncertain, Bure expressed her confidence residents would band together.
"It's a really special pocket of Los Angeles where life and family and community is important," she said. "And, so, I know in that sense that this community will rally around each other. Malibu will rally. We've done it in the past. We're going to do it again."
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Pacific Palisades, perched in the hills overlooking the Pacific Ocean, comprises a 23,431-acre area between Malibu and Santa Monica. Firefighters are continuing to battle the Palisades Fire, which has burned over 15,800 acres, Fox News reported Wednesday.
The affluent area is home to a number of celebrities affected by the massive fire. A growing list of stars, including James Woods, Sandra Lee and Steve Guttenberg have shared updates after being evacuated Tuesday afternoon.
The Palisades Fire is one of six fires raging in Los Angeles County as of Wednesday, according to Cal Fire. The six fires are zero percent contained, authorities said. Five people have died in the Eaton Fire, which has been burning in Altadena, near Pasadena, since Tuesday afternoon.
Bure told Fox News Digital that seeing the destruction from the inferno in Pacific Palisades has been "heartbreaking."
"I'm staring at my window right now just watching the mountain burn," she said. "It's devastating. And it's so emotionally overwhelming. We lived in the Palisades for 30 years. We just sold our home last year. But all of our friends in our community are still very much there.
"It's where we raised our kids," Bure added. "And they went to school, and we went to church and had frozen yogurt and did our grocery shopping. And to see it completely leveled is — it's heartbreaking and it's devastating. And it's sad. And we just have so many friends and family, and it's just countless people that we personally know that have lost their homes.
"I think that the hardest part right now is that we're still watching it burn," Bure added. "The winds aren't getting better. They're not supposed to really decrease until tomorrow at 6. So, it's like you're actively trying to, you know, want to do something, and yet there is not much you can do until it settles down. And it feels like it's going to be forever."
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More than 100,000 residents in Los Angeles County remain under evacuation orders. Bure told Fox News Digital she has been in touch with her former neighbors since they fled the Palisades Fire Tuesday.
"I've been constantly talking to them," Bure shared. "Everyone's evacuated."
Bure explained she and husband Valeri Bure viewed the devastation in their former neighborhood through videos posted on social media.
"There's some houses that are still there, and there's lots that are gone," she said. "We personally have friends that [were] still waiting to see if their house is still up and then confirmed that they've lost everything. So it's, yeah, it's pretty hard."
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"It's like you want to help, and there's just not much you can do at this point," Bure added.
As longtime residents of the Pacific Palisades, Bure recalled that she and her family faced many wildfires over the years. However, she said their most harrowing experience came when the Glass Fire ripped through Northern California's Napa Valley in 2020 and threatened their home in the area.
"We thought we were going to lose our home," she recalled. "We didn't. But flames came right up, and firefighters were able to save our home there.
"So, yes, we've experienced it. It's heartbreaking, and it's scary. And there's something about fire versus all of the [other] natural disasters. I mean, they're all horrible and terrifying.
"However, when it comes to fire, it just — you're looking at it, and it feels like hell."