Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine saved a Van Halen ‘Woman and Children First’ t-shirt during the fire in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles.
The drummer shared on Instagram, “Thanks to everyone reaching out. We are good, but had to evacuate last night. Hosed down the house and grabbed the humans and animals and split… Oh, I did grab one thing from the house… this VH woman and children first o.g. tee… very apropos. Everybody please be careful and stay safe.”
The fire started at 10:30 AM PT on January 7 and has since spread to over 11,000 acres, with no containment due to the Santa Ana winds, according to CalFire. Additionally, three other fires are burning in Altadena, Sylmar, and near Sepulveda Basin in the San Fernando Valley, CBS News reports.
California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency. Over 30,000 people in Pacific Palisades were evacuated. The Los Angeles County Fire Department confirmed two deaths and the destruction of over 1,000 buildings.
Governor Newsom posted on X, “California has deployed 1400+ firefighting personnel & hundreds of prepositioned assets to combat these unprecedented fires in L.A. Emergency officials, firefighters, and first responders are all hands on deck through the night to do everything possible to protect lives.”
Other musicians, including Scott Ian of Anthrax, Richard Patrick of Filter, Bret Michaels, Joe Bonamassa, and more, have shared photos and updates on their safety during the fire.
Bret Michaels, the frontman of Poison, expressed on X, “Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected across the nation right now.”
Whitesnake’s Doug Aldrich posted, “This thing came outa nowhere… now it’s exploding. Very sorry for all those affected…”
CalFire has released an Evacuation Guide, providing tips for preparing to leave, handling power outages, evacuating animals, and what to do if trapped. People are encouraged to donate to the California Wildlife Relief Fund to help provide food, fuel, water, and shelter for those impacted.
Photo Credit: Brad Wilk – Instagram
