Dick Van Dyke didn’t evacuate home amid LA fires, using gas generator
Safe and sound.
Dick Van Dyke has not evacuated his Malibu home as the LA fires continue to tear through Southern California, the legendary actor’s wife, Arlene Silver, revealed.
In an Instagram Live on Jan. 12, Silver, 53, shared that the $8 million house she shares with the 99-year-old “Mary Poppins” star is still standing despite the deadly blazes, which destroyed other celebrity abodes in Malibu and adjacent areas.
Sitting in her car, Van Dyke’s wife of almost 13 years said that the guest house on the Malibu property did catch fire but only sustained minimal damage.
Still, with the Palisades fire having destroyed most of the coastal Pacific Palisades community, the couple are without power and have been using a gas generator.
“Keeping Dick warm and entertained has been the two things that have been my top priority, so, you know, we don’t have power […] or regular electricity, so we don’t have Wi-Fi,” Silver said, adding that the pair have been relying on her camper to cook and charge their devices.
Silver also shared that even with the many natural disasters Malibu continually faces, she and Van Dyke have no desire to relocate.
“Dick is more comfortable here than anywhere else,” she said. “It’s easier to take care of him here.”
Describing the famed actor as a “trooper,” Silver added, “I don’t know of any other person of, you know, senior citizen age that would put up with this.”
Van Dyke is no stranger to Malibu’s wildfires.
Just last month — and mere weeks before his 99th birthday — the star was evacuated from the Los Angeles celebrity enclave after the Franklin fire threatened his home.
“It was coming from the hill, you could see it,” Van Dyke said in an interview on “Today” at the time.
“And oh my God, and we got out of here,” he added. “I was trying to crawl to the car, I had exhausted myself, I couldn’t get up.”
Luckily, Van Dyke’s neighbors came to his rescue.
“Three neighbors came and carried me out and came back and put out a little fire in the guest house and saved me,” he revealed.
After the terrifying evacuation, Van Dyke posted on Facebook confirming that he and Silver made it to safety along with their animals, except their cat Bobo, who escaped as they fled the flames. Thankfully, the couple found the feline when they returned home.
