A rock -- that is what has kept star actor Billy Crystal going after he lost his home in the Pacific Palisades wildfire in Los Angeles back in 2025.
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Billy Crystal Reveals Key Item He Salvaged From LA Wildfires
During a sit-down with PEOPLE magazine that was released on Wednesday (October 14), Crystal detailed how he and his family are handling life in the aftermath of their home being lost. When speaking to the outlet, Crystal detailed one key item that they were able to salvage from the fire. A rock that survived the tragedy that reads just one word: "laughter."
"That's what's gotten me through tough times. Starting when I was 15, when my father died," Crystal said of the rock to the outlet. "That's what's gotten me through tough times, starting when I was 15, when my father died."
The Palisades Wildfires broke out in the Santa Monica Mountains of Los Angeles County on January 7, 2025. It ended up becoming the most destructive fire in the history of the city of Los Angeles. Crystal described the first morning of the wildfires as something out of "The Walking Dead."
"We were awakened early with low-flying helicopters, and then a lot of fire trucks, sirens, and there's already a lot of smoke in the sky, and then turning on the TV and seeing friends abandoning their cars and running for their lives," Crystal recalled to the outlet. "Then it became really real, and you think, "It went from 20 acres to 200 acres in 15 minutes. Let's get out of here." Then the alert went off. We never heard that sound before."
The wildfire destroyed more than 37 square miles of land and took the lives of 12 civilians. But even after the tragedy, Crystal says that he and his wife ultimately plan to return to the city one day to rebuild their family home.
