The Getty Fire — so named because it is near the iconic Getty Museum in Los Angeles — has burned more than 650 acres of some of the most prime real estate in Los Angeles, in the hills between the Westside and the San Fernando Valley. It has impacted some of the city’s most upscale homes and neighborhoods.
Including Brentwood, where LeBron James lives. He and his family were forced to evacuate their homes and continue to live in a hotel for now. Fortunately, they are safe and healthy.
Man these LA 🔥 aren’t no joke. Had to emergency evacuate my house and I’ve been driving around with my family trying to get rooms. No luck so far! 🤦🏾♂️
— LeBron James (@KingJames) October 28, 2019
My best wishes as well to the first responders⛑ right now doing what they do best! 🙏🏾💪🏾
— LeBron James (@KingJames) October 28, 2019
From the start, LeBron has praised the firefighters and first responders battling the blaze. On Tuesday, he did more than that — he sent them tacos.
Thank you, @KingJames, for generously sending a taco truck to support our @LAFD firefighters, first responders, and partner agencies working to fight the #GettyFire. pic.twitter.com/rgTSMgWXLU
— Mayor Karen Bass (@MayorOfLA) October 29, 2019
James said he received the first notification about the fire around 1:30 a.m. Monday -- hours after the Lakers’ win against the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night -- and an evacuation notice 15 minutes later. He could see the fire raging in the distance from the roof of his house.
“We finally got out of the house after 2 o’clock and finally got somewhere to safety around 4 a.m. in the morning,” James said after the Lakers’ shootaround Tuesday morning, adding that he only thought to grab his credit card and passport on his way out the door. “Didn’t get to sleep. We finally really got to sleep around like 6 a.m., 6:15. It just ... it was crazy. It was crazy, to say the least.”
“Right now our area is still under the evacuation period so we’re in a hotel right now,” James said. “So we’re just waiting until it can be cleared and we won’t return until they give us 100 percent approval of clearance for us to go back. Luckily our house is still standing as of now, but we’re not in the clear. But we’re just taking all precautionary measures as a family and as a community as well. Everyone in Brentwood and around that area are just hopefully staying clear of there for now.”
The Getty fire was 15 percent contained as of Tuesday afternoon, and while fire crews have expressed optimism there is also an intense night of winds expected in Los Angeles — up to 60 mph as the winds funnels through the canyons around the fire — that could cause things to flare up again.
Hopefully, LeBron’s house — and the hundreds of other homes in the area — remains safe. What’s most important, however, is that he and many other families are safe.