For Chrishell Stause, fleeing the LA fires triggered a memory she hadn’t expected: watching her house burn down as a kid.
For over a week, numerous fires have raged across parts of Los Angeles County. As of Wednesday afternoon, the primary two fires, the Eaton and Palisades fires, remain active, alongside the Hurst Fire. There is also the Auto fire ongoing in neighboring Ventura County.
According to ABC News, these fires are among the worst-ever for the area across several metrics.
This prompted Chrishell to reveal that not only did she watch her home burn down as a child, but also that memory flooded her mind while evacuating last week. “There was a fire right in our backyard. It was just immediately you gotta go. I just got frozen in fear,” she said.
“I had forgotten when I was 12 I did watch my house burn down. But that’s something you don’t think about, you know what I mean?” she continued. “It happened so long ago.”
Chrishell noted that G Flip rose to the occasion while she was stuck “still standing in the same place” and ran her through what they needed to do to evacuate.
“You don’t know how you’re going to react. I think I would have liked to have thought I’m good in an emergency case, but this showed me I needed a little kick in the butt,” she said. “G was there to keep me focused, so it was just nice.”
According to the Daily Mail, Chrishell also detailed the memory in an Instagram story the day after evacuating, noting her home survived the fire.
“Last night reminded me when I was 12 years old watching my house burn and everything I owned in it, which wasn’t a lot obviously at the time,” she said, per the publication.
“A little PTSD from that whole experience that I completely forgot about until last night as I’m standing there in shock,” she said, again thanking G Flip for rising to the occasion.
You can watch her appearance on Sherri here and donate to fire relief efforts here.