Candace Cameron Bure updated fans on the status of her Los Angeles-area home in the midst of the California wildfires that have claimed at least 42 lives over the past five days.
The Fuller House star wrote on her Instagram Story on Monday night that she was on “high alert” while the Woolsey and Hill fires tore through Southern California.
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“Wind finally just showed up again. There is an active fire in malibu canyon and now we sit and wait to see if the fire crews can keep this fire north of malibu canyon,” she wrote in an update. “Back on high alert!”
Bure has shared several posts about the fires, including one that asked her Instagram followers to “please pray with us” and told them that “we need your prayers.”
The actress is one of the many celebrities keeping a watchful eye of their home — if they’re lucky enough that it’s still standing, that is. Many celebrities, including Gerard Butler, Miley Cyrus, Neil Young, and Robin Thicke were among the unlucky whose homes were destroyed in the fires.
As of Monday night, authorities lifted mandatory evacuations for part of West Hills in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Los Angeles, but thousands of homes still remain at risk. Several areas of Ventura and Los Angeles counties also had evacuation orders lifted Monday, although large areas of those counties and the entire city of Malibu remain under mandatory evacuation orders, according to The Associated Press.
The Santa Ana winds, which have been stoking the fires across the southern part of the state, are expected to continue into Tuesday and possibly Wednesday, reports the Daily News.
The latest update from emergency workers Monday night revealed that the death toll has risen to 44 people since the Woolsey, Hill and Camp fires broke out late last week, The New York Times reports. The Camp Fire, has killed at least 42 people and burned through 117,000 actress of land. The most destructive fire in California’s history, it was just 30 percent contained as of Monday night.
The Woolsey Fire outside Los Angeles has killed two people and spanned nearly 100,000 acres. It has burned at least 435 buildings, most of them homes, with 57,000 structures remaining at risk. Hundreds of thousands of California residents have evacuated as a result of both fires. The Hill Fire, which burned 4,500 actress in Ventura County, was 85 percent contained on Monday thanks to aggressive firefighting and good weather conditions.
President Donald Trump approved California’s request for a Major Disaster Declaration, which will send federal aid to the state.
“I just approved an expedited request for a Major Disaster Declaration for the State of California. Wanted to respond quickly in order to alleviate some of the incredible suffering going on. I am with you all the way. God Bless all of the victims and families affected,” Trump tweeted Monday night.
He also issued praise for firefighters, writing on early Monday, “The California Fire Fighters, FEMA and First Responders are amazing and very brave. Thank you and God Bless you all!”
Many California residents took offense to Trump’s previous comments that threatened to withhold federal funding and blamed the state’s “gross mismanagement” for the fires.
“There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments,” Trump wrote last week.
California Gov. Jerry Brown put the blame on climate change. “This is not the new normal,” Brown said, according to the Sacramento Bee. “This is the new abnormal, and this new abnormal will continue certainly in the next 10 to 15 years.
“The firefighters and the communities in this state deserve an apology,” Brian Rice, president of the California Professional Firefighters union, said Sunday, according to NBC News.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby called Trump’s first response to the fires “very hurtful” to first responders.
“We don’t control the climate,” Osby said, according to CBS News. “We’re doing all that we can to prevent incidents and mitigate incidents and save lives. I personally find that statement unsatisfactory, and it’s very hurtful for all first responders that are putting their lives on the line to protect lives and property.”
