Putting her own life on the line, Gossip Girl reboot star Samantha Baldwin returned to Los Angeles amid the wildfires to save her precious cat.
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While speaking to the Daily Mail, Baldwin recalled rushing into the fire to retrieve her 10-year-old cat, Kitty.
“It was an immediate spring into action and an amalgamation of questions racing through my head,” she explained. “Can I get my cat out?”
Although she was forced to evacuate, the Gossip Girl star said she ran 15 minutes back to her apartment. She did everything she could to save her pet from the wildfires.
“It took 20 minutes for me to find her,” she also recounted. “She had gone into her best hiding spot, which was inside the couch. I grabbed her and wrapped her in a blanket and put her inside my cat carrier backpack.
Once she was outside her apartment, she realized the wildfire had gotten closer. The path to getting back to her car was no longer an option.
Baldwin tried a different route to escape the blaze.
“Here I was stuck between the fire and the ocean, so it only made sense to get to the water,” she then shared. “I was genuinely running for my life with my cat strapped to my back and a suitcase rolling behind me. I had to dart in and out of the cars and dodge flaming branches and palm leaves falling to the ground all around me like a minefield. It felt like something I would see or do in an action movie, not my real life.”
The ‘Gossip Girl’ Star’s Father Was Helping With Wildfire Evacuation Efforts Nearby While She Ran to Save Her Cat
Meanwhile, Baldwin shared that her father, Michael, who is a security guard at a nearby elementary school, was helping students evacuate while she was rescuing her cat.
She said, “It was an immediate spring into action and an amalgamation of questions racing through my head, ‘Can I get my cat out? Is my dad safe and getting ready to leave?'”
Once she safely escaped from the wildfires with her cat, Baldwin said she reunited with her father.
“While I was running towards the ocean, I called my Mom and told her I loved her. I honestly didn’t know if I was going to make it,” Baldwin said. “When I finally made it down to PCH (Pacific Coast Highway), the family behind me told me they were instructed by law enforcement to get out of their car because the fire was moving so quickly, and to run towards the ocean.”
Baldwin is currently staying with a friend in North Hollywood. She said her cat is adjusting since the traumatizing natural disaster.
“My body aches. I feel like I got hit by a bus and run over three times,” she added. “I had so much ash on my face yesterday that I looked like I just walked out of Mad Max. My chest hurts and my throat is a bit scratchy, but overall I am so thankful to be alive, and that my dad and cat are safe.”