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Meryl Streep’s nephew revealed the 75-year-old actress cut a “car-size hole” in a fence in order to escape the wildfires raging across Los Angeles earlier this month.
Abe Streep shared the story of his famous aunt’s escape in an article he wrote for New York Magazine about the destruction caused by the fires in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena communities.
“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,” 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 Streep also spoke with his aunt’s friend and Only Murders in the Building co-star Martin Short and actor Haley Joel Osment for the article.
Short, 74, said one of his two sons told him to evacuate his home in the Pacific Palisades after the fires broke out on Jan. 7. He managed to save some family photo albums on his way out, and it took more than an hour to get out of the community. Some people fleeing the Pacific Palisades abandoned their vehicles in the road and walked away as the fire approached.
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Short’s home survived the fire, but the nearby home of one of his sons was lost. Still, he doesn’t plan on moving.
“I will definitely stay in my home,” he said.
Osment, 36, lost his home in the Eaton Fire, which started near his house in Altadena. He said he had just returned from filming a movie when the fire broke out. He ultimately lost 500 records and a piano he had received from his parents when he turned 18, among other things. He said his father lost his home as well.
“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 said. He told the magazine he plans to rebuild.
As of Monday, the official death toll from the fires was 29.