Fire can break out in anyone’s home, even in the homes of the rich and famous. Whether electrical fires, lightning strikes, wildfires, or even lint in the dryer, they can happen in a myriad of ways. You would think the likes of Drew Barrymore, Pierce Brosnan, Jack Nicholson, Sean Penn, Robert De Niro, and Evangeline Lilly would be impervious to such unfortunate happenstance events happening in their homes. You would be wrong. No one is perfect and no one is invincible. Not even Hollywood celebrities. The following are 6 celebrities whose homes caught fire.
DREW BARRYMORE
In 2001, the two-story, 3,500 square foot home of Drew Barrymore, the star of movies such as Scream, Fever Pitch, and Charlie’s Angels, broke out in flames in the early morning. Barrymore and her then-fiance Tom Green escaped uninjured. The fire caused $700,000 in damages. They were lucky to escape with their lives, as their trusty dog Flossie woke them by barking and clawing at their door. It took about sixty firefighters to extinguish the blaze. Barrymore went on to live in a rental for a year, and bought an $8,000,000 mansion in 2011.
PIERCE BROSNAN
Even James Bond is not impervious to fire. Pierce Brosnan, know mostly for his role as the titular character in James Bond movie franchise from 1995 until 2001, did not anticipate his 18.2 million dollar Malibu mansion being torched by an electrical fire for $1,000,000 in damages in. The flames were put out by as many as twenty firefighters within thirty minutes. This was the second time that a residence of Pierce Brosnan caught fire. The only victim of this fire? Brosnan’s 2002 Aston Martin V12 Vanquish.
JACK NICHOLSON
In 2011 a fire broke out at Jack Nicholson’s Hollywood Hills house. Nicholson, known for such classics as The Shining, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, and Batman (1989), was renting the house out to a friend at the time. He bought the property in 1973, paying just $49,000 for it at the time, which is the equivalent of about $250,000 nowadays when adjusted for inflation. Dozens of firefighters contained the blaze, however, two were injured and taken to the hospital. None of Nicholson’s tenants were injured.
SEAN PENN
In 1993, a wildfire destroyed the Malibu home of Sean Penn and his then-wife Robin Wright. In addition to the $4,000,000 home burning down, they lost everything they owned. Penn, known for Mystic River, Milk, and I Am Sam, eventually viewed the experience in a more positive light. “Everything in life burned, except my family, and it was so liberating.” Wildfires are definitely not uncommon in Malibu.
ROBERT DE NIRO
Fire broke out and damaged Robert De Niro’s New York apartment in 2012. The culprit? Lint buildup in a dryer. De Niro, know for classic films such as The Godfather, Casino, and Goodfellas, was not home at the time of the incident. The fire was contained about an hour after the call to the fire department was made. His apartment spans the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors.
EVANGELINE LILLY
An electrical fire in 2006 destroyed Evangeline Lilly’s home. Lilly, known for her roles in Lost and The Hobbit franchise, lost everything she owned in the fire. Luckily, no one was injured. Damage was estimated at $250,000. Lilly was renting the home at the time, and was already on set for the TV series Lost when the fire broke out.
Fire safety is important for EVERYONE. It doesn’t matter if you live in a studio apartment or a $20 million mansion. Overnight you can be in the exact same living situation, without a home. Know your escape route. Have smoke alarms installed in all the right rooms. Don’t ever leave anything liable to set fire to your home unattended, whether it’s an oven or lit candles, because you never know what might happen. Most importantly, be careful when handling fire because something like this is always a possibility.
