Camille Grammer Amanda Edwards/Getty Images
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Camille Grammer is recalling the 2018 Woolsey Fire that destroyed her house as the Pacific Palisades fire continues to rage through the greater Los Angeles area.
Grammar, 56, spoke to People on Saturday, January 11, about the 2018 fire that burned more than 96,000 acres and destroyed 1,643 structures, including the reality star’s Malibu home — one of many homes destroyed at the time due to a lack of water access. A similar situation is currently developing as, according to the LA Times, fire hydrants across the Pacific Palisades are running dry.
“That’s what happened to my house, and during the Woolsey fire, when the firefighters got to the house, it went to the hydrant and there wasn’t enough water pressure. So then they couldn’t save the house,” Grammer told People, recalling her conversation with the fire chief at the time. “He said, ‘I’m sorry. There’s nothing we can do. We just don’t have water pressure.’ And they were very frustrated, and apologized, and they did the best they could.”
Grammer further shared that, when fire fighters discovered that there wouldn’t be enough water to extinguish the flames, the first responders began pulling her belongings out of the home in an effort to save as much as possible.
“I didn’t ask for that,” she said. “They just did it themselves, which was really nice, because there’s just, there was just no water pressure to save the house.”
She continued, “I haven’t really been able to sleep well, I keep thinking of my friends that have lost homes. My heart is broken over the loss of communities and lives. It’s awful. But again, you never know if the winds kick up again and what direction they turn. It’s, you know, a wait-and-see game.”
Janisse Quiñones, chief executive and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, told the LA Times that all water storage tanks in the Pacific Palisades had dried up due to “tremendous demand” in the area.
“We pushed the system to the extreme,” he told the outlet on Wednesday, January 8. “Four times the normal demand was seen for 15 hours straight, which lowered our water pressure.”
As for Grammer, the RHOBH alum further praised the city’s “amazing” firefighters as they continued to fight the blazes. “They put their lives on the line all the time to save people and communities and homes, and they’re trying their best under these awful conditions,” she told People on Saturday.
“It’s really important in times like these, when the neighbors come together and communities come together to help each other out,” she added.
Since she has experience losing everything to a fire, Grammer also shared some crucial advice to people who are now going through the same thing.
“For me, because I’ve gone through it, life is more important than your home,” she said. “If you’re safe, it’s your life, it’s your health, it’s being safe and sound with your family and your loved ones. Because you can replace material objects, you can rebuild a home or find a new place to live, but a life — you can’t replace a life.”
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