Actress Christel Smith and her family narrowly escaped the towering inferno of raging wildfires which engulfed her posh LA home.
Former Egoli star Christel Smith is one of the many residents whose homes were razed to the ground as deadly wildfires raged throughout the City of Angels, claiming the lives of 10 people and damaging more than 9,000 structures.
The South African-born actress shot to fame as Tarien in the iconic M-Net soapie Egoli before packing her bags to pursue her silver-screen dreams in Hollywood almost 30 years ago.
In a Facebook post, Smith – whose American credits include CSI Cyber, Rake, Before I Got Famous, Martial Law, The Agencyand Strong Medicine – likened the apocalyptic landscape of her neighbourhood in Hollywood Hills to “Armageddon”.
Fiery hell: SA actress Christel Smith loses home in LA fires
The leggy blonde actress said that her family’s home in central Los Angeles was one of the first to go up in flames when the wildfires ripped through the affluent area on Wednesday this week.
“We lost everything,” a devastated Smith posted on social media.
“Luckily we were able to save our animals. Our house was cordoned off and we couldn’t go back yet to see what could be saved. All my Egolimemorabilia and photos were burnt.”
Smith revealed that she kept possessions and memorabilia of her late friend and fellow Egolistar, Esta TerBlanche, with her to give to her father and brothers, but “now it’s all burnt.”
TerBlanche starred as Bienkie, the sister of Smith’s character Tarien in Egoli before following in her close friend’s footsteps to Hollywood, passed away in July last year at the age of 51.
‘It looks like Armageddon’
Smith noted in her Facebook post that the shop, library and school in their area also burnt down.
“Everything is so surreal… it looks like Armageddon.”
According to the actress – who “was one of the most popular characters [on Egoli] with the most fan mail” – she and her husband, Edward Durkin, and their 13-year-old son, Eddie, will be staying with friends until they can get their lives back on track.
LA fires: ‘costliest wildfire disaster in American history’
Los Angeles Times reported that experts reckon that Los Angeles is not out of danger yet with much of Los Angeles County remains under a red flag warning through Friday night.
The fires – which destroyed the luxury mansions of several Hollywood stars, including that of Paris Hilton, Mel Gibson, Jeff Bridges, Anthony Hopkins and the late Matthew Perry – may be the costliest wildfire disaster in American history.
