Ricki Lake Shares Heart-Wrenching Account of Her Battle to Save Her Malibu Home

Ricki Lake recently shared a harrowing account of her attempt to save her Malibu home from destructive fires in Los Angeles. The former talk show host and actress lost her house in the blaze that ravaged Malibu on January 8.

On January 9, Lake, 56, posted a detailed video documenting how the flames and smoke gradually encroached on her property. "It’s happening right now," she stated at the beginning of the video, showcasing the fire from afar. "Huge fire in the Palisades."

In the video, Lake filmed the sprinklers operating in her garden as she and her husband, Ross Burningham, prepared for the worst. "Thankfully, my sprinklers are working," she noted. "We have our system set up."

The video captured Burningham watering the palm trees, with Lake exclaiming, "That’s so hot, honey." As night approached, the fire intensity increased. Lake walked toward two vehicles, sharing, "1/7/25 The day we lost our home. 😭💔 timeline of our efforts to save our beloved home in Malibu."

She further detailed their struggle with timestamps in her caption: "11:24 am—early signs of smoke in Temescal Canyon; 11:54 am—setting up our fire defense system." The update included desperate moments: "4:10 pm—Ross hosing down our neighbor’s palm tree (baller move); 6:17 pm—Ross attempting to siphon gas for the fire defense system motor. (Even bigger baller move, though it didn’t work.) 😩 At 6:55—do we stay or do we go?"

In a follow-up video, Lake disclosed, "We finally surrendered our efforts and left our home at 8:02 pm." Verbalizing her uncertainty, she said, "I’m praying that we have a home to go home to." As they drove away, Lake prayed for her neighborhood and the people there.

While filming scenes of flames from her car window, she realized she didn’t remember what she had salvaged from her home and added reflectively, "I think I might have just said goodbye to my house."

In her emotional caption, she expressed gratitude: "Grateful to have made it out alive and uninjured. Forever grateful to @kirbykotler_—our absolute angel. He did everything to save our precious property. Had we stayed, we would not have survived."

Lake encouraged those affected by the fire, stating, "Again, please pray for those impacted by this catastrophic event and help if you are able. Bless our brave firefighters and first responders. May they stay safe. 🙏💔😭💞".

On January 8, Lake confirmed that her home had been destroyed. She conveyed the emotional impact, writing, "Ross and I lost our dream home. This description ‘dream home’ doesn’t suffice. It was our 'heaven on earth'—the place where we planned to grow old together." The property held deep significance, as it was also where they married in January 2022.

Earlier, SSP wrote that Heidi Montag shared heartbreak after her home was destroyed by Los Angeles fires.