In a recent Los Angeles wildfire, Hollywood star James Woods exemplified the Chinese saying, “A distant relative is less reliable than a close neighbour.” Woods, a two-time Oscar nominee and three-time Emmy Award winner, showed a remarkable sense of community spirit in the face of disaster, shifting the focus from his on-screen image to his actions amidst the calamity.
Woods’s home is located in the affluent Pacific Palisades community of Los Angeles, where he had just completed renovations. However, on Tuesday, January 7th, a fire spread near his home, triggering smoke alarms inside the house and forcing him and his wife to evacuate.
On Friday, January 10th, Woods shared a photo on social media showing three men standing in front of the ruins left by the fire. He narrated the touching story behind the image.
The young man on the left in the photo is named Robert Trinkkeller, whom Woods referred to as a “hero.” Trinkkeller chose to stay behind after receiving evacuation orders and became a crucial part of the rescue efforts.
The man on the right in the photo is Woods’s next-door neighbor, a 94-year-old man named Francis, who is based in Boston. When the fire approached, Woods called Francis’s son to inquire if the elderly man had safely evacuated. He learned that caregivers had left the elderly man alone after seeing the fire.
Woods and his wife attempted to return to rescue Francis but were stopped by police barricades. In a moment of desperation, Woods called Trinkkeller for help.
By the time Trinkkeller arrived, the old man’s house was engulfed in flames. Fortunately, firefighters arrived in time and with Trinkkeller’s assistance, successfully rescued the elderly man.
On Friday, Francis flew back to the Los Angeles area to join Woods and Trinkkeller in using buckets of water to extinguish the remaining fires on the hillside.
“If you are lucky enough to have such good neighbors, then you are happier than you can imagine,” Woods wrote.
Conservative star Woods has been in the spotlight recently. He and his family were forced to flee the wildfire and expressed grief for the loss of their home during a TV interview.
Upon returning to his home on Friday, he was pleasantly surprised to find his house miraculously intact while surrounding buildings were mostly destroyed. He referred to this as a “miracle.”
Comments from netizens under his tweets included, “Your neighbors are also lucky to have someone like you as their neighbor. Despite facing your own challenges, you were willing to take the time to ensure the safety of the elderly. Because you are a kind person.”