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U.S. Olympic swimmer Gary Hall, Jr. has “lost everything” including the 10 medals he won at the 1996, 2000, and 2004 Summer Games. He said the devastating fire in southern California destroyed his home, his business, and all of his “worldly possessions.”
The three-time Olympian spoke with NBC 12 News after being forced to evacuate his Pacific Palisades home and leave everything behind.
“It’s not just a home, it’s all worldly possessions,” Hall said. “I really am that guy with nothing to lose.”
Hall said his house he was “a driver shot” away from where the fire started.
“It grew quickly, then flames, and you could see the houses going up one by one as it moved down the hill to where I was,” Hall said. “It was not very far away when I drove off.”
He continued, “People were just abandoning the cars and just running. Fortunately they were able to make it out but it was just unlike anything I’ve ever seen in any apocalypse movie, anything, it’s the closest thing I can relate this experience to.”
“It was worse than any apocalypse movie you’ve ever seen and 1,000 times worse,” Gary Hall, Jr. said in another interview with the Sydney Morning Herald.
“I was on the phone with my daughter. I noticed a plume of smoke coming over the back side of my house. I saw the flames erupt and houses start popping. There were explosions. I didn’t have a lot of time. Sunset Boulevard was a complete logjam. People abandoned cars and were running for their lives. Police were telling them to do that. My girlfriend was trapped in her car around smoke.
“It’s mayhem in Los Angeles. We were surrounded by flames. The embers were raining down on me as I jumped into my car. I had time to grab my dog and just a couple of personal items. It’s just every person for themselves.”
As far as his Olympic medals go, Hall said, “I did think about the medals. I did not have time to get them. Everyone wants to know did the medals burn? Yeah, everything burnt. It’s something I can live without. I guess everything is just stuff. It’ll take some hard work to start over. What can you do?”
He added, “There is no time to take photos or videos when running for your life.”