Jamie Lee Curtis breaks down during TV interview amid devastating LA fires

The actress, 66, appeared on The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday, having just flown to New York City – where the show is filmed – from Los Angeles, which is currently in the grips of devastating fires.

Curtis was there to promote her new film, The Last Showgirl, but became visibly distressed when talk turned to the crisis. She’d earlier taken to Instagram to confirm her home was “safe” but that her “beloved neighbourhood is gone”.

”I’m literally just about to cry … As you know, where I live is on fire right now. Literally, the entire city of the Pacific Palisades is burning,” she told Fallon.

“I flew here last night. I was on the plane, started getting texts. And it’s f***ing gnarly, you guys. It’s just a catastrophe in southern California.

“Obviously, there have been horrific fires in many places. This is literally where I live. Everything. The market I shop in. The schools my kids go to. Friends, many, many, many, many, many friends now have lost their homes.”

 

Describing it as an “awful situation”, Curtis explained that she was “going to go home first thing” the following to day to be with her family “and try to help” her friends.

“But … just so I can tell you, if you know anybody on the West Coast or not, the American Red Cross, support them,” she said.

“They will come in and help people. Do anything you can. Anything in your community to help people, whether you need it or not now, you will need it. Give blood, donate, whatever.

She finished up: “And remember, since I’m on the middle of a very big television show, for anybody living anywhere, have an emergency kit in your house.

“I’m an American Red Cross ambassador. Have an emergency kit with prescription glasses, medicines, dog food, baby formula, all the things you need if you have to flee.”

More than 130,000 people are under evacuation orders as five wildfires rage across Los Angeles, including two new blazes in the Hollywood Hills and Studio City.

At least five people have been killed in the unprecedented carnage so far, with more than 2,000 properties destroyed, including the homes of celebrities such as Mandy Moore, Billy Crystal, Cary Elwes, Paris Hilton, Spencer and Heidi Pratt, and Adam Brody and Leighton Meester.

Firefighters are reportedly struggling with already-scarce resources, and the US National Guard has been deployed.