Brooke Burke was happy to be prepared after the recent Franklin Fire devastated Malibu.
During an interview with Fox News Digital, Burke explained that since she’s evacuated from her home in Malibu four times, she learned to keep a fire box on stand-by for emergencies.
“Get yourself a fire box. I’m grabbing that because it’s documents and irreplaceable things that I mean, nothing’s irreplaceable in documents, but my baby books are in there. My kids’ hospital bracelets are in there, you know, sentimental photos, you know, before the days of digital. Things that are not replaceable are in there,” Burke said.
MALIBU WILDFIRE FORCES CELEBRITIES TO FLEE LUXURY HOMES AS DEVASTATION SPREADS
Burke explained that her greatest piece of advice for people during emergencies is to have a plan.
“The more we can prepare, the better,” she said.
The fitness star left her Malibu estate with her fiancé, Scott Rigsby, and her four children: Rain, Shaya, Neriah and Sierra.
WATCH: BROOKE BURKE KEEPS A FIRE BOX ON HAND AT HER MALIBU HOME IN PREPARATION FOR WILDFIRES
“We were actually going to bed and Scott smelled fire, and he was like, ‘Does it smell like fire?’ And then you wait for helicopters and you wait for sirens. There was nothing in this case.
“I’m like, ‘Yeah, kind of smells like fire.’ And then I went up to look through a big window, and in the night, I saw the red sky, and I was like, ‘That’s really close. Nobody panic. Let’s just kind of figure this out together,'” Burke said.
The fitness guru explained that she grabbed her fire box and then she and Scott woke up her children calmly. Since most of her children are old enough to drive, everyone loaded into separate cars, safely evacuated Malibu and headed to Santa Monica.
WATCH: BROOKE BURKE DETAILS EVACUATING HER HOME DURING THE MALIBU WILDFIRES
“I will say, as difficult as it is and as scary as it is and unpredictable as it is, it’s a tremendous opportunity for a community to rally together, to come together.
“You’re met with love, your love, support… you’re met with compassion. I didn’t know the magnitude of what was happening in my neighborhood. And many of our neighbors lost everything to the ground, to the ground being their entire home and everything that was special to them, whether they were in town or not, which is devastating,” Burke said.
Burke explained it was “unbelievable” for her neighborhood to rally together to help put out a fire on her neighbor’s front lawn.
“Adrenaline is a big part of this fight. Trying to make calm and responsible decisions is a big part of it. You know, there’s something about Malibu. I asked myself this time. This is my fourth… experience and my home, part of my home, burned about six years ago after the Woolsey fires,” she said. “It was a structural fire which I never talked about because everybody lost so much that I felt super fortunate and I worked through it.”
One thing that really helped Burke was her packed fire box.
WATCH: BROOKE BURKE SHARES THE MOST IMPORTANT ITEMS FOR PEOPLE TO GRAB IN AN EMERGENCY SITUATION
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“I had a fire box packed with passports, birth certificates, original Social Security documents, which are a pain in the a– to get, baby books, super sentimental things,” she began. “Everything I had was charged up. I tell my kids that all the time. When you’re in a certain zone and you’re in a hazard, fill your car up with gas, have water.”
Burkes explained that she calls these important items the “Ps” – get your people, pets, passports, plastics (credit cards), paperwork, prescriptions and power up on everything.
“It’s not that I’m organized, it’s that I’ve been through this before,” Burke clarified.
“We’re super grateful. I’m in awe of the efforts. The firemen, the policemen, ground air, neighbors, young people rallying together, connecting hoses to standing ground, protecting, doing it responsibly,” Burke said.
As of Dec. 16, 54% of the Franklin Fire has been contained in Malibu. Burke returned to her home, but told Fox News Digital that a large majority of her neighborhood is still too “afraid” to go back home.
WATCH: BROOKE BURKE’S NEIGHBOR’S HOME WAS BURNING DURING RECENT MALIBU WILDFIRE
“Some of them are back. Some of them are not. Some of them have had it. Some of them are afraid to come back. Some of them are sad to come back,” she explained.
Stars with homes reportedly in the affected area include Beyoncé and her embattled music mogul husband, Jay-Z, actress Julia Roberts, and pop star Lady Gaga. It’s unclear if the stars’ homes were affected by the fire.
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Meanwhile, Dick Van Dyke, Jane Seymour and Burke took to social media to share their devastation for their community, many fleeing with their children and beloved animals.
Burke shared photos on her Instagram, including one of her standing beside a firefighter who seemed to be canvasing the area.
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“Prayers for Malibu…what a community. We love our home & we fight to protect it & somehow we remain disaster after disaster honoring this sacred space . I’m so grateful for all of our friends that have reached out & family, gardeners, helpers , neighbors & the 1000+ firstresponders, law enforcement, volunteers, & workers that helped save so much. So grateful for all the brave firefighters trying to navigate the uncertainty of Mother Nature & wicked winds,” she wrote.
