Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith has lost his Malibu home to the Los Angeles wildfires, according to a series of Instagram posts from his wife, Nathalie Dufresne-Smith, which you can see below.
Earlier this week, Dufresne-Smith went live on Instagram to show her family evacuating their property. “The fire is right here, the fire marshals are telling us to get out,” she said as clouds of smoke loomed on the horizon.
On Saturday, she shared a follow-up post that said, “We lost our house,” and added, “We are safe. We have each other. We will start again. Thank you for your support during these trying times.”
Other Musicians Who Have Lost Their Homes in the Los Angeles Wildfires
Smith is just one of several musicians and music industry professionals who have lost their homes in the Los Angeles wildfires. Among those was famed producer Bob Clearmountain, who’s worked on albums by Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie and many others, whose Mix This! home studio went up in flames.
“We grabbed everything we could think of. I had some some things that Bruce Springsteen had given us; he had done a little one of his little stick-figure doodles for my wife’s 50th birthday, which I thought, ‘Well, that’s something pretty special,'” Clearmountain told the Los Angeles Times. “I can’t really look back. I can’t spend too much time being bummed out about it. I’ve got to say, ‘OK, what can I do?’ I’m going to change the style of what I do. I’m gonna do what I do, but do it differently, and hopefully it’ll be good, maybe better than what I was doing. That’s all I can think right now.”
Primus guitarist Larry “Ler” LaLonde also lost his home in the fire, which his wife, Shane, confirmed on Instagram. “We lost everything. It doesn’t sink in easily that you have nothing,” she wrote. “It’s still sinking in minute by minute. I know we are safe and yes I am grateful, but I can’t even begin to be close to grace yet as I can’t even comprehend this yet. Not just the things, but our town, our community. We all no longer have a home, a neighborhood, a school, a community. I am gutted to the core.”
When Did the Los Angeles Wildfires Start?
The Southern California wildfires began on Jan. 7 in Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades neighborhood, quickly spreading throughout the city due to the excessive Santa Ana winds and dry conditions. The fires have killed 16 people, destroyed more than 12,000 structures and forced more than 180,000 Angelenos to evacuate their homes as of Jan. 12.
Several of the city’s most iconic landmarks came under threat, including the Hollywood Bowl. “Due to the Sunset Fire, we have received evacuation orders and all Hollywood Bowl staff have safely evacuated the premises,” the venue announced on X. “We extend our deepest gratitude to the firefighters who are working tirelessly to protect our community.” Several legendary Sunset Strip clubs, including the Whisky a Go Go and the Troubadour, also canceled their shows out of an abundance of caution.
READ MORE: California Fires: Rockers Share Photos and Safety Updates
Los Angeles residents have sprung to action in an effort to contain the fires. Among them was Police Academy star Steve Guttenberg, who tried to move cars that had been abandoned on the street to clear a path for firefighters in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood.
“What’s happening is people take their keys with them as if they’re in a parking lot. This is not a parking lot. We really need people to move their cars,” Guttenberg told KTLA on Tuesday, the first day of the fires. “If you leave your car behind, leave the key in there so a guy like me can move your car so that these fire trucks can get up there.”
“When all this is over and we go back to normal life, let’s try to keep this empathy, let’s try to keep this kindness and this thoughtfulness,” Guttenberg added. “This is a time that we’ve got to band together. We’re not one street or one town or one city, we’re one community.”
Music’s Worst Concert Accidents and Tragedies
The possibility for danger always lurks whenever large groups of people get together, and that’s especially true at concerts and festivals.
Gallery Credit: UCR Staff