Jimmy Kimmel Breaks Down in Tears Talking About the L.A. Fires

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel became emotional Monday night talking about the fires that have devastated L.A.

His voice shaking, he said, “As you know, it has been a very scary, very stressful, very strange week here in L.A., where we work, where we live, where our kids go to school.”

The “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host explained, “We are back at our studio, which we had to evacuate on Wednesday,” as he showed footage of the Sunset Fire burning behind the studio last week.

“That is how close this fire was to our theater here,” he said.

Kimmel said many of the staff had to evacuate, and some even lost homes.

“It's been terrible… Everyone who lives in the city knows someone, most of us multiple people — families, friends, colleagues, neighbors — whose houses burned down,” Jimmy said. “The truth is, we don't even know if it's over. We had 100 mph winds fueling this nightmare. As of tonight, the winds are back, and I think I speak for all of us when I say it has been a sickening, shocking, awful experience.”

Breaking down, Kimmel said, “But it has also been, in a lot of ways, a beautiful experience, because once again we see our fellow men and women coming together to support each other.”

Jimmy thanked the firefighters and first responders for their work, saying, “Thank God for all of you.”

He also spoke with Steve Guttenberg, who has been doing what he can to help in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood.

Steve was speaking via video from the fire zone, saying, “I'm trying to put out some small fires — that's what my neighbors and I are doing. I'm a little far away from my house right now because I found another dog that I'm trying to save.”

Guttenberg called it “unbelievable how many homes have been lost and how many people are affected.”

Back in the studio, Jimmy brought some levity to the audience, saying that during these fires, “We learned the names of every local news reporter,  we learned that there's such a thing as a boiling water advisory, we learned that Steve Guttenberg's a goddamn national treasure, we learned that most of us are useless in an emergency situation, we learned some new words like ‘slop over’ and ‘Phos-Chek,’ we learned that there is a socially acceptable use for the word ‘retardant,’ we learned that there was a bunny museum in Altadena… we learned that none of our out-of-state family members know the difference between Santa Monica and Santa Clarita, and we learned that whoever was sending out those emergency notifications to evacuate should not be doing that job.”

Getting emotional again, Jimmy then introduced some uplifting stories of those helping “our fire-ravaged town.”

The episode also featured a performance of “Time Spent in Los Angeles” by Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith of Dawes. The brothers both lost their homes in the Altadena fire. Taylor’s wife Mandy Moore has been sharing their loss with fans on social media, while Griffin recently posted about his own loss.

For more on how Hollywood is helping during the fires watch the video below.