Deon Cole was forced to evacuate his home in Los Angeles due to the fires on the same day he was discharged from the hospital. Cole shared on social media that he had been hospitalized on January 9, coincidentally his 53rd birthday. He posted a selfie on Instagram from his hospital bed, donning a mask with multiple tubes connected to his arms. “Thank u all for your birthday well wishes,” he captioned the post. “I sure could use them. Thank you all.”
Cole did not provide specific details about his hospitalization, but upon leaving, he was confronted with another unexpected challenge: evacuating his residence in Los Angeles. In a video posted on Instagram two days after his hospital stay, Cole first displayed a photo showing his car packed for evacuation, including a large bouquet of blue roses. The subsequent clip filmed from the car depicted the fires raging in the distance, with Cole audibly expressing his shock, “Oh my god, look at this. That’s right over my house.”
Describing the day as “devastating” in the post’s caption, he recounted, “Left the hospital earlier, sick af, went home, then had to packed what I could to evacuate. As I drove away I seen the fire rising from behind my house, It’s a nightmare!!! I got the flowers my mom gave me before she passed tho.”
Cole had previously announced the postponement of his birthday celebration, which had been scheduled for the same evening, due to the ongoing fires. “Don’t feel right to do my birthday party while people are losing everything they own and myself being under high alert for my own home,” he explained in the caption. “Pray for the families.”
Since January 7, four fires have erupted across Los Angeles, fueled by dry conditions and winds reaching up to 100 mph in certain areas. Thirteen deaths have been reported in the Los Angeles region following the fires’ outbreak, though the exact toll remains uncertain as the fires persist. The Palisades Fire, impacting the Pacific Palisades and Malibu areas, has become the most destructive wildfire in the city’s history.
Amid the ongoing devastation caused by the blazes, approximately 180,000 individuals have been displaced from their homes, and thousands of structures have been razed. Among the affected properties were those belonging to celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Rosie O’Donnell, Paris Hilton, Anna Faris, Mandy Moore, Milo Ventimiglia, Ricki Lake, and others.
Some public figures, such as actors Bryan Greenberg and Jamie Chung, urged their followers to extend assistance to the broader Los Angeles community impacted by the fires. Today.com has reached out for further comment on the situation.
