“Top Gun: Maverick” star Miles Teller is detailing the moments leading up to his family’s evacuation during the Palisades Fire.
During an appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” the actor explained that before his home in the Pacific Palisades burned down, his grandmother had relocated to Southern California and was living with him after his grandfather died.
“So, my wife and I woke up, and where we lived in the Palisades, we were kind of on some elevation. So, as soon as we opened our curtains in our master bedroom balcony, we saw at our 12 o’clock the fire starting. And it was very small. I think it was at two acres at that point. And my wife, who is from Southern California, was starting to get a bit anxious but ready to act,” Teller told Colbert.
Teller explained that the fire was about 3 miles away from his home when they first spotted flames.
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“And Keleigh said, ‘If that fire goes from 12 to three o’clock, we’re really in trouble, and we’ve got to move.’ I was taking care of my grandma at the time because my grandfather, who I was extremely close with, he had just passed away a couple weeks before. So, I was planning on moving her out to California with me,” he said.
“So, I was like, ‘Hey Mup.’ That’s what we call her. I said, ‘Don’t be alarmed, but maybe you should start getting your paperwork together and your meds and things like that.’ And then we just kinda grabbed very little. We never thought that it was going to come where we were. It’s very residential.”
Teller explained that his home wasn’t surrounded by any “brush,” just family homes and family-owned businesses.
“Fire is scary. I grew up in the East Coast and hurricanes a lot of the time in Florida. Usually, they’re kind of scaring you for like a week. You have a lot of heads-up. But for the fire, man it moved fast. I would say from the time we woke up and saw it to mandatory evacuation, I would say like 90 minutes to two hours. And we’re watching it on TV as it’s happening, and people are abandoning cars.
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“At that point, people are already grabbing their kids and running down the street, and it was pure … it was pretty chaotic. Absolutely.”
Teller flashed his watch during the talk show and explained that, while evacuating, he grabbed his grandfather’s watch.
“One of the items I took was my grandfather’s watch. I don’t know what camera that is,” Teller said, while pointing to his grandfather’s watch on his wrist.
At the LA FireAid Benefit Concert Thursday, Teller broke his silence after he and his wife, Keleigh Teller, lost their home during the Palisades Fire.
“First, I just want to give a shout-out. I know there are a lot of first responders here tonight. I know there are a lot watching at home. So, thank you all for keeping us safe. Thank you.
“My wife and I, like a lot of us in the Pacific Palisades, lost our home in the fires, and my heart breaks for everyone who has been affected across the city. Truly, my heart goes out to all you guys.”
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Last month, Keleigh took to Instagram to post before-and-after photos of their house, noting in the caption that she regretted leaving her wedding dress behind when she and the actor evacuated before the flames consumed their property.
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“If you’re in the LA area PLEASE get out if you can. I wish I grabbed my wedding dress .. wish I did a lot different but it doesn’t matter, stay safe, get out,” Keleigh wrote in part at the time.
Teller was joined on stage by a neighbor of his, who shared his moving, personal story about how the Palisades Fire affected him and his family.
Musicians gathered in Los Angeles for the FireAid benefit concert, which was held at the Intuit Dome and Kia Forum. The goal of the benefit was to rebuild communities decimated by the fires that burned through Los Angeles in January.
