Meryl Streep‘s nephew Abe revealed in a New York Magazine report that the Oscar-winning actor had to a cut a “car-size hole” in her fence in order to evacuate the Los Angeles wildfires earlier this month. Streep was one of the numerous celebrities forced to flee home amid the destruction.
“My aunt Meryl Streep received an order to evacuate on Jan. 8, but when she tried to leave, she discovered that a large tree had fallen over in her driveway, blocking her only exit,” Abe 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 spoke to other actors for his article, including Haley Joel Osment. “The Sixth Sense” Oscar nominee’s home burned down in the Altadena fire, as did his parents’ home. Osment “lost 500 records and a piano his parents had given him when he turned 18,” Abe wrote. “He told me his father was struggling with the loss of his home, having spent a decade sanding and refinishing the wood floors and painstakingly varnishing metal surfaces.”
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Osment told Abe that he plans to rebuild a new home in the same neighborhood and he’s trying to get some clarity on how the wildfires got so out of control, saying: “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?”
While Abe did not reveal whether or not Meryl Streep’s home survived the wildfires, many Hollywood figures lost their homes. Mandy Moore, Jeff Bridges, Miles Teller, Paris Hilton and Billy Crystal are just a few of the dozens of celebrities whose homes burned down. Abe wrote in the article that Streep’s “Only Murders in the Building” co-star “Martin Short’s home was spared, though one of his sons lost his house nearby. Short told me, with resolve, ‘I will definitely stay in my home.’”
Head over to New York Magazine’s website to read Abe Streep’s full report.