‘Gossip Girl’ Star Braves Palisades Fire in LA to Save Pet Cat: Samantha Rose Baldwin Details Terrifying Incident

Wildfires are continuing to devastate Los Angeles and surrounding areas, and as evacuation orders continue, Gossip Girl actress Samantha Rose Baldwin made sure no one was left behind. Baldwin, 26, who appeared on an episode of the Max reboot in 2022, told Daily Mail she raced home and endured never-ending traffic in order to save her 10-year-old tortoiseshell, Kitty, from the wildfire. While driving from West Hollywood to Pacific Palisades, she decided to abandon her car and run on foot since the less than half-hour drive was taking more than two hours.

“When I got back into the vicinity of my home, the cars weren’t moving,” Baldwin detailed. “There was bumper-to-bumper traffic, and when I looked at my GPS, it said it would take at least another two hours to get home. That’s when I decided to park my car and run. I ran for about 15 minutes on Sunset Boulevard until I made it home.”

“It took 20 minutes for me to find her,” she continued. “She had gone into her best hiding spot, which was inside the couch. I grabbed her and wrapped her up in a blanket, and put her inside my cat carrier backpack. Once we got outside, the fire had gotten closer to us, and the path going back to my car was now no longer an option. I thought to myself, ‘Where am I supposed to go?’ The fire was all around us. The terrifying part was when a big gust of wind and smoke came in so fast that you couldn’t see anything.”

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Baldwin said she was running for her life with her cat strapped to her back “and a suitcase rolling behind me. I had to dart in and out of the cars and dodge flaming branches and palm leaves falling to the ground all around me like a minefield. It felt like something I would see or do in an action movie, not my real life.” The actress eventually made it safely to the beach, where she was reunited with her father, who works as a security guard at a nearby elementary school and was helping students evacuate.

“While I was running towards the ocean, I called my Mom and told her I loved her. I honestly didn’t know if I was going to make it,” Baldwin said. “When I finally made it down to PCH (Pacific Coast Highway), the family behind me told me they were instructed by law enforcement to get out of their car because the fire was moving so quickly and to run towards the ocean.”

Samantha Rose Baldwin is staying with a friend in North Hollywood, and her cat is adjusting quite well since they’re both on location a lot while Baldwin is filming. She also noted that this Is “Kitty’s second natural disaster. She originally came to me by taking her on as a foster for a family that had been affected by Hurricane Maria back in 2017.”

“My body aches. I feel like I got hit by a bus and run over three times,” Baldwin admitted. “I had so much ash on my face yesterday that I looked like I just walked out of Mad Max. My chest hurts, and my throat is a bit scratchy, but overall, I am so thankful to be alive and that my Dad and cat are safe.”