Declan Laird, from Kilmacolm in Renfrewshire, who has shared the big screen with the likes of Neve Campbell and Steve Coogan, now lives on the famous Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.
The 31-year-old has found himself caught up in the disaster unfolding in his adopted home, described “as the worst ever”, as the death toll rises.
Declan Laird (Image: contributed) In the last couple of days he has witnessed “apocalyptic scenes” from his own balcony as the out-of-control fires rage in the dry heat and are carried by the strong winds.
Laird, who moved to the United States to live the Hollywood dream 14 years ago, shares his home with fiance Starsi, who works in TV casting.
Wildfire in Sunset Boulevard (Image: contributed)
Speaking to the Greenock Telegraph from LA, Laird, who shared photographs taken from his home, said: “I woke up on Tuesday morning to go to the gym in our apartment block.
“I could smell smoke and then there was ash falling from the sky.
“By 11am we could see the fire. It was on the other side of the street, about 500 yards away. It was covering about 200 acres.
Wildfires in LA, as captured on camera by Declan Laird. (Image: contributed)
“We were alerted by the authorities on our phone to stay at home with warnings of evacuations.
“Your mind starts racing, you think ‘what will we do? Where will we go? How do we get there?’.
“You are thinking will you lose everything. For about three hours there was a real danger.
“Then the power was cut, the electricity went off, the traffic lights, everything on the Sunset Boulevard was out. I woke up [on Wednesday] and everything was in darkness.
“The sky was dark with smoke and there was no electricity for 10 hours.
“There are cars everywhere and emergency services bulldozing vehicles out the way. It is apocalyptic.”
Delclan Laird with fiance Starsi Howell (Image: contributed)
Laird added: “It is the closest we have ever come to the wildfires. In all the years I have lived here it has never come this far inland.
“The wildfires are normally in Malibu, which is about eight miles away, but with the traffic in LA it seems far away.
“The problem is that everything is bone dry and there are 100mph winds. All it takes is embers to start it.
“The effect of the wind and the fires is that it becomes like a tornado and destroys everything in its path.
Power cuts in LA (Image: contributed)
“We are safe. We are ok. But we have friends who have lost everything. It is devastating. ”
Back home in Kilmacolm, Laird’s dad John and mum Michelle have been watching the events unfold on the news.
John, who is Morton FC’s chairman, said: “We are just relieved Declan is OK. It is terrible out there right now.”
The authorities in California are now battling at least five major wildfires and have said that they have no way of bringing them under control.
Five people have been confirmed dead and more than 137,000 have been evacuated since the first fire broke out on Tuesday.
Declan Laird in Under Fire (Image: contributed)
laird, a former Morton youth footballer, moved to Hollywood and won a place in the famous Stella Adler Studio of Acting when he was 18 years old.
2025 is set to be one of the biggest years of his career so far, with roles in two forthcoming action films – Under Fire, directed by Steven C. Miller and also starring Dylan Sprouse and Mason Gooding, and Outer Bank.
Outer Bank with Austin North (Image: contributed) Declan was also involved in a scripted audio podcast, Unsinkable, in which he portrayed the real life character of John Boyle, originally from Greenock.
The series, about the San Demetrio tanker which was attacked by the German navy in the Atlantic during the Second World War but whose crew managed to sail her to the Clyde for salvage, also starred Brian Cox Nathalie Emmanuel and Thomas Brodie-Singer.
John Boyle served as a greaser on board the ship, whose story was turned into a film, San Demetrio London, in 1943.
Declan Laird starred in the ‘Unsinkable’ podcast (Image: contributed)
Laird added: “It has won numerous awards for ‘scripted audio series’ and it was really cool to be able to play a real war hero from Greenock.”
Later this year he is also scheduled to work on with Paris Hilton – who lost her home in Malibu as the fires spread on Wednesday – on a new project.