Dick Van Dyke’s Neighbors Carry Him to Safety From Wildfire: ‘I Was Trying to Crawl to the Car’

Dick Van Dyke attends the 51st Annual Daytime Emmys Awards at The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in Los Angeles on June 7, 2024. Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Legendary actor Dick Van Dyke has credited his neighbors for carrying him to safety from the wildfire ravaging Malibu, California.

In an interview on Thursday with NBC’s “Today” show, Van Dyke revealed that he wasn’t prepared when he saw flames approaching over the hill and toward his home during this week’s Franklin Fire.

“This time I messed up. ... I have a fire hose that hooks up to my pool and shoots, like, a 70-foot stream of water,” he told NBC News correspondent Dana Griffin.

“I wasn’t ready. I went out. It was snarled, and I’m out there laying on the ground trying to undo this fire hose, and the fire’s coming over the hill. What I did was exhaust myself. I forgot how old I am, and I realized I was crawling to get out.”

The Franklin Fire started just before 11 p.m. on Monday before swiftly moving south, causing widespread evacuations and power outages, and damaging buildings and homes in the Malibu area. The Franklin Fire has continued to rage across Malibu, burning more than 4,000 acres. It was only 30 percent contained as of Thursday, according to Jas Shaw, Cal Fire public information officer, who spoke at a press conference on Thursday.

Van Dyke, who turned 99 on Dec. 13, struggled to leave his home during the evacuation and told NBC News that his neighbors saved him.

“I was trying to crawl to the car,” the “Mary Poppins” star said in the interview. “I had exhausted myself. I couldn’t get up. Three neighbors came and carried me out and came back and put out a little fire in the guest house, and saved me.

“Thank God for them.”

The Hollywood star shared in a Facebook post on Tuesday that he and his wife, makeup artist Arlene Silver, had been safely evacuated, though their cat was missing.

“Arlene and I have safely evacuated with our animals except for Bobo escaped as we were leaving. We’re praying he’ll be ok and that our community in Serra Retreat will survive these terrible fires,” Van Dyke wrote.

Later, he shared an update to his original Facebook post, stating that Bobo the cat had been located with the assistance of Animal Control and was uninjured.

During the interview, the actor praised the firefighters’ incredible efforts to extinguish the fire.

“They had me out of here and pouring water on my house instantly, and that fire just overwhelmed them,“ Van Dyke said. ”They must be exhausted, those guys, but they deserve every accolade they can get.”

From NTD News