- Actor Steve Guttenberg emerged as a local hero during the devastating Pacific Palisades fire, aiding stranded drivers and protecting his home while grappling with the harsh realities of survival and the long road to community recovery.
When brush fires swiftly descended upon the Pacific Palisades on Jan. 7, Steve Guttenberg jumped into the fray.
The 66-year-old actor, best known for his performances in 80s blockbuster films like Police Academy and Three Men and a Baby, took off for the intersection of Palisades Drive and Sunset Boulevard, where nearly 200 drivers had abandoned their cars, choosing to flee on foot from the rapidly approaching blaze.
Guttenberg helped clear a path for emergency vehicles, jumpstarting cars and moving them to the side of the road—actions that made him a local hero to neighbors and Los Angeles residents who watched the devastation unfold in horror nearby and on their TVs.
“Homes that have been there for 70 years, 80 years, were burning,” Guttenberg says. “The whole town was burning. The sky was so dark that you couldn’t see two feet in front of you. What you were breathing in was pure blackness.”
While more than 23,700 acres of land in the Pacific Palisades and Malibu neighborhoods are now scorched and many residents have fled the area, Guttenberg returned to protect his home, nestled in an 80-home community, which remains undamaged. (His wife, TV news reporter Emily Smith, is staying in Manhattan Beach for now.)
The actor faces the stark reality of his decision. His home has power but no water, so he bathes in his swimming pool.
Food is scarce, other than three salmon steaks in his freezer, a few snack bars, potato chips and some canned goods. His mental health, meanwhile, is also taking a hit.
“I’m tired,” he admits — although he still has his sense of humor.
“There’s no way you can be in your normal self. You’re in a survival self. You’re in a wartime self,” he explains, adding, “But I did come up with a joke, ‘Does a bear sh– in the woods? Not in the Palisades, because there’s no water.”
Guttenberg moved from Sherman Oaks to the Pacific Palisades in 1986, shortly after the box office success of his science fiction film Cocoon.
In the Palisades, he found a welcoming community: many residents became friends, and Guttenberg was an honorary mayor of the affluent residential neighborhood, following other honorees, including Martin Short, Anthony Hopkins, and Rita Moreno.
“I was really proud of this town and its beautiful people,” he adds wistfully.
With just 14% of the Palisades Fire contained as of Jan. 13, many residents, business owners, and city officials are still grappling with the devastation. Damage and economic losses sustained from the Los Angeles fires so far are estimated to reach up to $150 billion, according to a preliminary estimate by AccuWeather.
Still, Guttenberg is optimistic that the Palisades can be restored to its former glory, even if the area will take “many years” to rebuild and residents must figure out in the weeks and months ahead whether their insurance coverage is adequate. (Other homeowners may not have coverage at all due to insurers canceling some policies before the fires.)
“It’ll take years, but it will come back. We have to remember that during a crisis to always try to be empathetic, empathetic, empathetic,” he says, pointing out that local firefighters battling the fires around the clock are the “real superheroes.”
“We as human beings are resilient. Nature is resilient. We will come back.”
